Escape From Monster Girl Island
by Majin Blake
Summary: After Jaune finds himself stranded on an island mostly undiscovered to humanity, he gets roped into some unfortunate adventures of a few of its weirdest inhabitants, and he must earn their trust to help him get home, preferably in one piece. -A harem, monster girl AU- -NOT smut, but a little perverted, and even some fluff!- (on hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

His eyes snapped open at the burning sensation of his throat regurgitating an abundance of salt-water. He turned his head to empty the last of it onto the white sand beneath him, and he tried to regulate his breathing.

A splash drew his ear, and he barely caught a glimpse of a fin slipping under the waves of the ocean glistening in the light of the day.

The... _ocean_?

His head swiveled between the empty shoreline on either side of him, seagulls squawking overhead.

The beach...?

Sore arms pushed his heavy body to sit up.

Why was this a tropical beach and not Jaune's bedroom? Was this a dream? His head _did_ feel pretty fuzzy...

A small wave broke before climbing the shore, lapping at his already drenched hoodie and jeans, breaking him from his musing.

"Alright… stay calm, Jaune… now is not the time to panic," he assured himself. "First thing's first, orient yourself."

He moved to stand. Everything hurt, but he fought through the pain.

With his head becoming clearer, he scanned his surroundings as far as he could see. There was mostly just sand, water, a mountain towards the center of the land, and a very thick tree line where the beach ended, but relief washed over him at the sight of some civilization quite a ways down.

"Guess I'd better go find some help."

After walking along where the grass of the forest met the blazing hot sand for a while, a girl emerged out from the trees in front of him and stopped when their eyes met, dropping a basket of fruit she had been carrying. A look of shock frozen on her face, she didn't move a muscle.

She was a cute, short girl, who had neck-length, dark hair with red-dyed tips, and wore a black, long-sleeve crop top shirt that ended just below her bust. It was fitting for a beach.

Most peculiarly, though, was that she was in some kind of a costume, as evidenced by the big, black and red turtle shell on her back that came to wrap around and hug the front of her body, from the top of her midsection, down to just below her hips, showing off every bit of her toned legs.

It was a high quality costume to say the least! Maybe there was some kind of festival or con in town?

"Umm, hi," Jaune began and gave a polite wave. "Could you tell me where- "

"Eep!"

In an instant, the girl had vanished into the shell that fell and dipped into the sand.

Jaune blinked... and blinked again at the unmoving carapace. It was a _very_ high quality costume...

He cautiously approached and leaned down to take a peek inside.

"My name is Jaune," he informed. "That was a cool trick. Are you cosplaying as a Ninja Turtle or something?" he asked curiously, but received no answer. Even though the bright sun was beating down hard, he could see only darkness inside the shell. "... I don't know where I am or how I got here... Can you help me?"

"... N-no one's home!"

Letting out a quiet sigh of frustration, he began collecting the mishandled fruit into the basket. Once that was done, he placed it in the sand in front of the hole that the girl's head had withdrawn into.

"Please, I could really use your help…"

Silver eyes shone out of the darkness, pensively looking over the basket. Jaune offered a friendly smile, but, unfortunately, silence was again his answer.

Groaning, he rose to his feet again and started the walk towards the visible town.

"... Never mind, I'll just find help in the city."

Maybe it was a little silly to think that he'd get much help from a girl dressed as a Ninja Turtle while carrying fruit on an empty beach. He let out a small chuckle and shook his head at his own foolishness.

"W-wait!" the girl's voice pulled his attention back as she ran up to him, basket in hand again. "You can't go there! It's dangerous for you!"

He furrowed his brow at her.

"The city? Why?"

"B-because…!" she added and awkwardly poked her index fingers together.

"… _Because_…?"

"… Because they'll- " She looked away, and Jaune thought he could see her face redden a little. She leaned in and whispered, "-_do_ things to you…"

Jaune backed away and nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"... Uhh, right… Listen, I'm just gonna go find the police station or something. I'm sure they'll be able to help me get back home, but thanks anyways." He turned to start walking again, but the weird brunette jumped in his way, stretching out her arms.

"No, stop! I'm telling you, that's the _worst_ place for a Human to go!"

Jaune stared for a moment. This girl may have been cute and all, but obviously her think-box wasn't firing on all cylinders. Even so, he decided to humor her.

"For a Human..." he parroted.

"Yes!"

"... And _why_ is it dangerous for a Human?"

"Because you're on Monster Girl Island!"

Jaune wrinkled his nose at the name.

"That... sounds like some terrible fanfictions I've read," he muttered under his breath.

She gave an inquisitive tilt of her head.

"What's a fanfiction?"

His eyes widened at her exceptional sense of hearing.

"Uhh... nothing..." He cleared his throat. "So, if I'm on Monster Girl Island, I take it that _you're_ some kind of Monster Tortoise Girl then?"

She smiled, but gently shook her head.

"No, silly! I'm a Terrapin, but still part of the Turtle family."

"... Right," he mumbled as he moved passed the deluded girl. "And I'm a knight that's destined to save the world."

"Hey, I'm serious!" She asserted, hurrying to keep walking alongside him. "You've probably never heard of us before since you're a Human, but this is a real shell!" She swung the large shell around, proudly displaying its full glory. "Touch it!"

Stopping and taking a moment to reconfirm to himself that this entire day was really even happening, he looked at the shell, then back to the girl, who was watching him with excited eyes over her shoulder. She gave a few quick nods as if to encourage him.

He sighed and tepidly ran a hand over the casing. Side to side – top to bottom. Again, its high quality was unmistakable.

"Okay, sure, it feels real, but how would I know the difference from a fake one?"

"Because I can feel everything you're doing!"

"... You can feel this..." he said dubiously, still touching it.

"Yeah!"

He smirked at a sudden idea.

"If that's true, then what letter am I writing on your shell right now?" He began to drag a single finger in a fluid motion, carefully outlining a design across the expanse of her shell. Maybe once she failed this test, it would finally knock some sense into her...

The turtle girl hummed in thought.

"Uhh, is it an 'E'?"

Jaune's brows raised in surprise. Her answer was close, but...

"Trick question – It was the number 'three.'"

The girl indignantly whipped around.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

Seeing her cute pouting, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Alright, alright... What am I writing now?" he asked as his hand moved to her carapace again, this time to the front. When his finger started writing in the motion of the letter 'S', he thought he heard a light gasp from the girl, but his focus was captured by something else.

"Huh, it's actually kind of soft on this side," he pointed out, and his second hand joined the other in exploring the shell, forgetting their previous task. Not only was it soft, this side was more flesh colored.

"I-I, umm," the girl nervously started.

Blue eyes raised to see silver staring down at his still-moving hands, and, for some reason, her face was incredibly red.

"You-you're not supposed to be touching there- ," she tried to tell him as a breath hitched in her throat. "That s-side's sensitive…"

"Oh my," an alluring voice pulled their gazes to the imposing figure emerging from the thick forest. "Am I ruining a moment?"

Jaune's mouth hung agape at, what he could only describe as, a beautiful woman with long, dark hair, fiery, amber eyes, and wearing armor that covered only the most important bits. Most jarringly, however, were her hips and legs that seemed to morph into a gigantic, golden-red scorpion's body, complete with its own two intimidating pincers at the front, eight skinny legs, and a huge tail and stinger hanging in a forward curve over the back. There even appeared to be tiny bursts of flames erupting every time the tips of her scorpion legs met the ground as she approached.

This looked _far_ too good to be a cosplay...

Jaune gulped as he and the possibly-real turtle girl cautiously took a couple steps backwards.

"Like what you see?... I know I do." The woman narrowed her fiery eyes. "And I see a Human." Her legs stretched, raising her entire form higher, and her tail leaned forward, some kind of liquid dripping from the end.

Turtle Girl abruptly stepped in front of Jaune with her arms outstretched.

"No! You can't hurt him, Cinder!"

The woman merely relaxed her posture and smirked, lowering a hand down to gently caress the smaller girl's face.

"Hurt him? Why would I do that, Ruby?" she asked softly. "Don't worry, you can have the rest of him whenever I'm done..."

Jaune noticed Ruby's hands trembling.

"... N-no! I won't let you!" she shouted.

"Now, now..." Amber eyes sharpened again. "Don't be so selfish!" Cinder raised an armored pincer and took a big, backhanded swing.

Ruby turned and shielded Jaune, her hard exterior taking the punishment of the devastating blow, sending them both through the air and just passed the tree line. Shaking off the hit, Jaune got to his feet and moved to aid Ruby lying face down in the grass.

"Ruby! Are you okay?"

She let out a groggy groan as he flipped her over on her side. Though motionless, she was able to peer up at him.

"Jaune... run into the forest, she's too big to move through it quickly. It's not me she wants."

He shook his head.

"I'm not just gonna leave you here!"

A glimmer of surprise sparkled in her eyes, and a tired smile spread across her lips.

"You're not like the Humans I've heard about... "

"Jaune, was it?" Cinder cut in with her sultry voice as she began slinking her massive body through the beginnings of the trees. "That's a nice name... It'll sound especially nice when I'm screaming it while I- "

"Go!" Ruby yelled.

"Quite the opposite of what I was going to say," Jaune heard from behind as he turned and broke into a sprint. Hopefully Ruby's theory would prove correct, or he was screwed.

He ran, jumped, dodged, and weaved his way through the forest as fast as his Human legs would let him, but when the chaos of what sounded like a speeding bulldozer from behind prompted him to take a quick peek over his shoulder, all hope was lost.

Instead of agility, Cinder was using the power of her huge pincers to snap the trees at their base and shove them out of the way, leaving a literal path of destruction in her wake.

Doing the one thing that he always made fun of in chase scenes of movies, he tripped over some stupid thing, and came crashing down to the ground hard.

Almost immediately, he was flipped over on to his back, and a dripping stinger gently dragged down his chest as Cinder leaned down close.

"Such a treat I've caught for myself today. Tell me, how did you get here?"

With eyes locked onto the venomous barb pinning him down, fear gripped at his throat.

"I... I don't know!"

"Come on now, do you really expect me to believe that?"

With a smirk, Cinder plunged her stinger into Jaune's chest, shredding through his favorite jacket. He cried out in agony, his hands pulling at his body's intruder. The pain was searing, like his flesh was melting, but it quickly gave way to a numb tingling, and his grasp on the stinger faltered. Soon, he was even too weak to hold his own head up off the ground, and he collapsed down, unable to budge like gravity had increased the pull on his limbs a thousand times over.

"What is this...? I… can't… move…"

"No need to panic, Jaune," the Cinder consoled him as she brushed hair out of his face. "My venom isn't lethal. It only induces a temporary paralysis with some... _minor_ side effects. But you'll still be conscious enough to feel what matters, and you'll be glad you did..."

And she was right that he still had feeling, even if dulled. He discerned the touch of Cinder's hand dancing across his abdomen and drifting downwards to the hem of his jeans, slipping a couple fingers underneath.

Though, he was granted momentary abatement when something tackled her from behind, and she disappeared with a grunt from his limited view. He could only stare up at the trees as some kind of a struggle ensued, or he thought so anyway, as things were slammed around, clamors and battle cries could be heard, and coconuts fell from the trees near him as the ground quaked.

A warm feeling washed over him, and his eyelids became heavy. Maybe it was foolish, but he would just close them for a moment. Yeah, just a small rest, and it would be fine.

* * *

A tent...

The ceiling of a large tent was what he opened his eyes too.

His mouth was annoyingly dry, and he still felt the heavy weight of his limbs.

Though, luckily, a little strength had returned to him, and he tilted his head to find Ruby sitting at his side, legs folded underneath her, but she hadn't noticed he woke yet. Instead, her stare seemed to be captured by something around his waistline, and her face held a concerning look of bewilderment.

"... Ruby?" Jaune willed himself to say, but it came out as meaningless noise.

The Terrapin started at the sound.

"Oh, y-you're awake!" Silver eyes awkwardly avoided blue. "Umm... My sister, Yang, saved you from Cinder, and I convinced her to let you come back with us... She might be a _teency-weency_ bit distrusting of Humans, but don't worry! Once she warms up to you, you're gonna love her!"

Jaune let out a little huff of a laugh to himself at the envisioned image of another small turtle girl somehow fighting off that psychotic scorpion woman. If she was anything like Ruby, it'd be hard to imagine her lasting more than just a few seconds.

Ruby's gaze peered over and lingered upon the lower half of Jaune's body again.

"So, umm... how are you feeling?"

Passing on the risk of making more embarrassing, incomprehensible noises, he opted for a simple tired grunt.

"Don't worry, the toxin should be wearing off soon," Ruby continued. "Cinder got me with it once, it made me feel pretty weird... but... I don't remember _that_ ever happening to me."

Jaune tried to lift his head to see what had captured Ruby's focus, but he lacked the energy. Unable to answer with the paralytic venom coursing through his blood, he gave an inquiring hum.

"Can you feel it?" Ruby asked as she moved closer. "There's something right here- "

Jaune's eyes shot wide open at the feeling of her grabbing at his most personal area that was quite rigid under his clothes. In contrast to the rest of his body, it was _very_ responsive to touch.

He groaned and made a fruitless attempt to scoot away.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" Ruby admitted with a growing look of worry. "Does it hurt?" she asked as her hand returned to his groin, this time to rub away the 'pain' she had caused.

A moan escaped his lips, and the Terrapin's hand sharply recoiled, her face a crimson red.

"Ahh! I-I, umm-! I'm-I'm gonna go see what Yang's doing!"

Ruby popped up and scurried out of the tent, just barely managing to catch herself after tripping over nothing.

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief, taking a moment to calm his mind down as well as... _other_ things. This particular problem must've been another side effect of Cinder's venom.

It took some time, but the feeling in his arms came back, then his legs, then finally his nether regions thankfully returned to normal. Gathering the strength to leave the tent, he poked his head out, revealing the darkness of the night surrounding him in the forest, lit up only by a campfire. It appeared deserted, no sign of Ruby or her sister.

In the distance, he could see a faint light emanating through the trees, and he took quiet steps as he made his way over, careful not to make his presence known behind the foliage.

It was a dim lantern he had been seeing, set down at the edge of a small lake. The lantern's owner, Ruby, lolled about in the water, leisurely reaching behind to scrub at her damaged shell with a long brush in the dim light.

Jaune watched the Terrapin, taking an interest in her oddly cute demeanor and unexpected charm. Once again, he found himself smiling... right up until the point he squinted through the darkness and realized she wasn't wearing her top.

"Nice night to be spying on my sister, huh?"

Jaune spun his head around quickly enough to see a scaly fist incoming.

And then pain...

Getting a grip on himself, he wearily raised his head off the ground and took in the view of his assailant.

A tall girl stood over him, slightly older looking than Ruby, two small horns protruding from blonde hair, ample provisions in the chest department, and, similarly to Cinder, most of her lower body took the form of a scaled, dark-green, incredibly long snake's body, the end of which firmly coiled around Jaune's neck and lifting him in the air.

"The hell's wrong with you!? She's keeping her shell clean, you pervert! The same one she used to defend you!"

"Yang?" That confused, adorable voice of Ruby's might've been the sweetest sound in the world at that moment. "Yang, stop! What are you doing!?" His savior, thankfully now wearing a shirt again, grabbed and pulled at the other girl's tail.

"This creeper was watching you in the lake!"

"I'm sure it's not what it looks like!"

"Of course it is! I told you he was just pretending to be nice!"

The light was fading, the lack of blood flow quickly overtaking Jaune. His face must've matched the color of an eggplant as he struggled and writhed.

"Please, Yang! Just trust me!" Ruby shouted, and the blonde's death-grip loosened, cherished oxygen finally making its way to his brain again.

Jaune was unceremoniously dropped to the ground with a thud, and Ruby rushed to his aid, not-so-helpfully pulling on his arm to assist him in standing.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine, thanks."

Ruby stood awkwardly for a moment, her shirt soaking wet, likely from hastily throwing it on, and Yang eyed down at Jaune knowingly.

"So, uhh - this is my big sister, Yang!" Ruby enlightened him with a wave of her hand, and he desperately tried to maintain eye contact.

_Big_ was an understatement with the way the serpent used her lower body to tower over them. So much for another turtle girl...

"Come on, Yang, stop trying to look scary and come down here!"

Yang obliged Ruby, and slowly lowered herself to just above Jaune's eye level, still glaring at him. He nodded politely with a stressed smile.

"She's a Wyrm," Ruby continued. "Which means she's part of the Dragon family, so she's super-crazy strong!"

"Just so you know," Yang cut in, staring through the windows to Jaune's terrified soul. "I only used five percent of my power in that punch."

Ruby let out a snort of a laugh and waved her hand dismissively.

"She's just teasing you! It was probably more like ten."

Jaune gulped and cleared his throat.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I woke up, and there was nobody around- "

"It's okay! Don't worry about it! We forgive you," Ruby insisted, elbowing her sister. "Right, Yang?" Yang stood quietly brooding until Ruby moved closer to her, puffing out her lower lip and unleashing the most irresistible set of puppy dog eyes Jaune had ever seen. "_Pleeeeeeaseeee?_"

Yang tried to avoid them initially, crossing her arms in defiance, but not even the most coldhearted person, or Monster, could endure. She sighed.

"...Fine... We forgive you," she grumbled.

"Yeah, see?" Ruby grinned wide, turning back to Jaune, and yet, he was not completely feeling the love. "Are you hungry?" she asked as she went to fetch her lantern. "The fruit I had earlier kinda got crushed, but Yang caught some fish for us to eat, and you can stay with us for as long as you want until you find out how to get home!"

Yang shot Ruby a look of disbelief, but did not protest.

Jaune smiled uneasily, and his stomach growled as if it had heard the question itself.

"That'd be nice... thank you."

* * *

The walk back had been painfully nerve-wracking... at least for Jaune it was, with Ruby basically hanging off his arm telling him all about some of her and her sister's adventures in the forest, and the feeling of Dragon eyes glaring daggers into the back of his head as Yang trailed behind.

But now, Jaune appraised an unsavory, completely raw fish that Ruby handed him, urging him to 'enjoy' as they sat around the campfire. He peered up at his new companions, watching them chomp down into their uncooked meals with surprisingly sharp teeth. Even if their anatomies were different, raw meat probably wasn't safe to eat.

Yang noticed his lack of indulgence in their charity.

"What?" she asked with a less than patient tone.

Jaune flinched, but steeled himself.

"I just... have you ever tried roasting the fish?"

"You mean like over a fire?" Ruby asked, and Jaune nodded. "Yeah, Yang tried that a couple times, but it didn't really work out. It always ended up getting all burnt and gross."

"Well, maybe I could give it a try?" he offered with a shrug. "I'm in school training in the culinary arts."

Ruby frowned.

"The what?"

"Uhh, I'm learning to become a gourmet chef."

"... A what...?"

"... I'm good at cooking things."

"Oh, okay!" Ruby grinned and handed over her own once-bit food. Yang was predictably hesitant, but after some smiling encouragement from Ruby, she surrendered hers as well.

With excited silver and irritated purple eyes watching on, Jaune first got to work preparing the fish with the limited tools at his disposal. He explained everything as he went along with skinning, cleaning, gutting, removing the bones, and more cleaning before he could start with the actual cooking. He knew watching all those survival-in-the-wild shows would pay off someday!

Then, he did what he did best.

Even without any basic ingredients, he was confident that at least Ruby would find the food to be_ much_ more enjoyable than eating it raw. Well, he hoped so anyway. He didn't actually know of a regular turtle's diet in the wild, but she was mostly Human, right?

Finishing his work, he passed the food back to the sisters and observed Ruby in anticipation as she immediately took her second-first bite.

"Mmmmm~!" she moaned as her eyes lit up. "Holy crap! This is really good! Yang, hurry up and try it!" Ruby took her own advice and began scarfing down the food like it could magically disappear at any moment.

As for Yang, however, she was quietly assessing the meat, turning it over in her hands every which way and examining it thoroughly. At last, she brought it closer and took a slow bite, ripping a chunk off.

Jaune's leg nervously bounced up and down while Yang chewed and chewed and chewed.

"It's… really good," she admitted almost incredulously from the other side of the fire, her stern expression softening into contentedness.

The tension in Jaune's shoulders faded, and he grinned.

"Told you!" Ruby added in between mouthfuls.

"I'm glad you like it," Jaune said, trying to keep his pride in check. "Maybe tomorrow I can walk you through it again as _you_ try cooking something. That way, you guys won't have to eat raw foods anymore, and maybe you could even start selling it."

Perplexed Dragon eyes simply stared at him.

"… You would do that?"

"Of course."

"... But… why?"

"Who cares- let's do it, Yang!" Ruby sprang up and over to her sister, ecstatically grabbing hold of both sides of Yang's face. "We could make a little wagon, and go around town yelling at people to buy our food! We could cook _everything_! Fish, sharks, bears, bugs, sticks, and even jellyfish! That'd be so much fun, and everyone will love it cause this is probably, like, the best thing I've ever eaten, like, ever!"

Jaune's cheeks may or may not have tinted a little pink.

"Oh, come on, there's no need for flattery..."

"No, seriously!" Ruby contended, redirecting all her energy towards him. "Yang says that after her mom disappeared and my mom died when we were real little, we had to leave the city, so we never got to have any fancy food," she explained, taking a seat next to Jaune.

As Jaune frowned at the sad story that was explained as if it were casual conversation, his brows scrunched together in thought.

"What about your dad?"

"Huh?" the Terrapin mumbled, her mouth now once again full of food.

"You said you didn't have a mom, but what about your dad?"

The sisters looked to each other, their contemplative faces difficult for Jaune to read.

"... Monster families aren't like Human families," Yang explained to him in a much more neutral, and somewhat sadder, tone than usual. "There are only female Monsters, and so we need Human males to have children. But since most Monsters and the few Humans that actually know about us treat each other like enemies... dads don't really stay with their families, so we never met ours."

Despite being assaulted by Yang only a little bit ago, he actually felt sympathy for her.

"I'm… sorry to hear that."

"It's okay," Ruby added cheerfully, "Me and Yang will always have each other!"

Jaune and Yang both smiled at Ruby's bubbly enthusiasm.

They fell into a comfortable quiet, the fire crackling as Jaune admired the tenacity of these girls. They'd been living in this forest almost all their lives, foraging for food, fighting off its wildlife and vicious Monsters like Cinder whom they'd apparently already had at least one run-in with. Just the thought of that psychotic woman made his skin crawl.

"So, what does Cinder want with me anyway?" he asked, taking another bite.

Ruby froze in place, her face glowing red before making an attempt to answer.

"Well, uhh... she just... sh-she kinda wants to, umm- "

"Rape you," Yang said bluntly. "She wants to rape you, dude."

Jaune nearly choked on his food.

"Oh..."

He had an idea that the answer might be _something_ like that.

Ruby averted her gaze.

"Yeah, so... you should probably stay with us and away from her..."

Yang smirked and narrowed her eyes.

"Yep, that's probably for the best. Ruby told me all about how Cinder _erected_ quite the problem for you earlier!"

"Aww come on, Yang, I didn't say that!" Ruby shouted, waving her arms around, and Yang burst with unbridled laughter. "It wasn't even a big deal anyways! Besides, we're even now!"

Yang's giggling came to an abrupt stop, her expression melting away into something Jaune couldn't quite identify as she looked to Ruby.

"What did you say?" Yang asked, and Jaune felt every muscle in his body clench.

The apprehension in her voice betraying her, Ruby's eyes looked everywhere possible except for at her sister.

"Ah-! I... I, uhh, n-nothing!"

"Sis_,"_ Yang said, her tail stalking around the fire and gently dragging Ruby over, who was loudly trying to hum nonchalantly. "What do you mean you're 'even' now?"

"… R-Really, it's nothing! It was just a silly little thing and it was right when we met so he didn't know and I didn't mind all that much and he was really gentle and- "

"_… Ruby_," she stressed, her face inches away from the ensnared girl's. "What. Did. He. Do?"

Jaune prayed Ruby would stay strong, but his stomach dropped when he witnessed her whispering something into Yang's ear.

"He touched your _WHAT!?"_

The Wyrm dropped Ruby, and used the power of her long tail to launch herself at Jaune through the fire, scattering the wood and enveloping them in darkness. She crashed into him, and they tumbled through the dirt as she wrapped the length of her lower, serpent-like body around his entire figure.

"Wait, I can explain!" he struggled to get out as the mighty force was crushing his lungs.

"Oh, no, you're not talking your way out of this again," Yang retorted, her normally purple eyes now cutting their way through the night with a harsh, red glow.

Ruby came running and stumbling through the dark, latching onto Yang.

"Yang, you're going to kill him - stop! He's not like the other Humans you told me about!"

"He's _exactly _like the other Humans! And…" Jaune watched in terror as Yang's eyes constricted and slitted, and the very tip of her tail dipped its way to the button on his pants. "Maybe I should violate you like you violated my sister…"

A look of mortification plastered itself on Ruby's face.

"What the frick!? Eww! Yang, what is wrong with you!?"

Bones popped in Jaune's body, sounds that he was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be making.

This was it… This painfully familiar situation was how he was going to die… Trapped on an island full of gorgeous monster women, choked to death by one of its beauties.

Gasps of air choked out of him, spots clouded Jaune's vision, then stars.

Then nothing.

* * *

_Let me know what you think so far! Whether you think it's great, total shite, or just want to give some criticisms, I wanna hear it because nothing motivates me more than reading comments! Next chapter, we're gonna continue meeting new characters and getting caught up in stupid shennanigans! Thanks for checking it out!_


	2. Chapter 2

_So, uhh, first- Sorry that this took so long. In the notes of the last chapter, I accidentally said this would be out in just a week. That was never gonna happen. I'm not that fast of a writer, and I'm fairly busy in general. I update when I can. My bad on that one_

_Second – HOLY CRAP, this thing got way more attention than I thought it would. It's hard to actually believe._

_Third – Thank you guys so much for the reviews and such. I really do love reading them, even that one incredibly angry review lol_

* * *

Waking up to the inside of this damn tent after being attacked by insane Monster women was something he hoped he wouldn't have to get used to. Gone were his hopes of magically waking up in his bedroom, free from this terrifying place. Though, the mass of warmth surrounding his aching body was pleasantly new.

On his right, Ruby lay sleeping and huddled up close, a cute hum of a snore escaping her every few seconds. She was a weird, quirky girl, and, for some reason, she seemed to have taken a liking to Jaune. She put herself directly in harm's way to protect him after knowing him for only a few minutes, and that was even after initially being distrustful of him... Maybe she was a bit too trusting, or perhaps naive?

To his left, Yang looked like she had fallen asleep in the middle of trying to murder Jaune last night, her tail still coiled around him as she snoozed. She held him tight, almost painfully so, and her chest, barely contained in her tank top, hovered just a few inches away from his face. She let out a snore of her own, more obnoxious than Ruby's, and her wild mane of hair strewn itself across him and herself.

The thought of leaving and getting as far away from Yang as possible tempted him, but being in her grip like this didn't exactly leave room for such ideas, nor did he really have anywhere to go. And, even worse, being so close to Ruby made him worry about triggering Yang's over-protective wrath again.

First, Yang had clobbered Jaune for accidentally stumbling upon Ruby while she was bathing. Then, she jumped him, constricted him, and tried to...

... What _did_ happen last night?

"Ruby, wake up," Jaune whispered.

She stirred, still mostly asleep.

"... Oh, thank you, Chieftain Goodwitch... I cooked all these bananas in gold myself," she mumbled.

Jaune raised a brow.

"Dreaming about becoming a chef already?"

Silver eyes shot awake and met his.

"Wah! S-Sorry!" she whisper-shouted and sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from her face. "Uhh... good morning, Jaune… Yang accidentally knocked out the fire last night when she went crazy, and, since we're cold-blooded, I was able to convince her not to kill you cause we needed warmth… That was after I hit her in the head with a log to snap her out of it… Things were getting kinda weird. But don't worry!" she added as she beamed a grin at him. "She'll come around eventually... again... probably."

Jaune tried to smile back at her, but it was a little difficult to be appreciative while still in Yang's clutches.

"Thanks, Ruby. But, uhh, could I get a little help here?"

"Oh, right!" She tip-toed over to Yang's other side, leaning in slowly and _very_ carefully... "YANG, WAKE UP!"

Jaune's heart stopped, fear seizing it tighter than the Wyrm's tail. This was _not_ how he wanted to start the day, waking up at the mercy of a powerful, pissed off Monster that chose to keep him alive only as her personal heater. Would she kill him immediately now that she didn't need him anymore? If not, how many times would he _almost_ die again today? Hopefully it was less than yesterday.

Despite the rude awakening, Yang only just barely roused from her slumber. She peeked around briefly until her sleepy gaze landed on Jaune.

"… Nice shiner," she said plainly, and Jaune winced as the tip of her tail deliberately patted at his bruised eye.

"Thanks… A friend gave it to me."

Yang let out a surprised laugh and released him from her hold. They both stood, and Jaune tried to ignore his body's incredible soreness as he feebly got to his feet.

"Umm, Yang has something she wants to tell you," Ruby said to Jaune, and she quickly slipped out of the tent, leaving the two in a heavy silence.

Jaune turned to Yang hesitantly, yet somewhat curiously, and she crossed her arms with a huff as her eyes drifted downwards.

"… Ruby thinks I need to apologize for- "

"_Yang!"_ Ruby warned from outside, and Yang gave a groaning eye roll.

"I mean… _I_ think I should apologize for yesterday… for attacking you." Jaune watched as the hostile attitude he'd come to expect from her began to crumble, leaving a vulnerable Yang behind as she fidgeted with the end of her tail that suddenly seemed so interesting. "When I get mad, I lose my shit, and its like I can't control myself… But _that_… I don't know what happened to me..." She paused for a short moment, her brows scrunching together as she mused until she finally looked him in the eye. "Anyway... It was super weird and uncool of me, and if you're willing to teach me how to cook, then I can at least be a better friend."

Jaune smiled genuinely, pleased to be feeling like he was starting to get somewhere with her.

"Thanks, Yang. I'm glad we can- "

"_BUT,_" she cut in, holding a finger up as she slithered her way to the exit. "If you ever touch my sister again... _I'll fucking kill youuu~!" _she sang in a cheerful voice, and even though it was said with a smile, something about her tone sent shivers down his spine.

* * *

"For one to cook the prey, one must first catch the prey," Ruby sagely whispered as she was becoming one with nature… or... whatever she was doing. They all hid behind a bush in the forest on the side of a small plateau they had climbed, stalking a deer grazing near the edge of a steep slope.

Ruby was so excited about learning 'how to chef,' as she put it, that she basically dragged Jaune and Yang along looking for potential food, until they happened to stumble upon a target. Jaune brought a simple bow and arrow that he had made for hunting small game (again, praise be unto survival TV shows), but the sisters insisted on doing things a little differently.

"And for a huntress to catch the prey," Ruby continued. "She must first…_ think_ like the prey." She tapped her temple knowingly.

"And what's it thinking?" Jaune asked.

With a focused hum, she intently narrowed her gaze on the animal.

"It's thinking... '_Man, this grass would sure taste better cooked.'"_

Jaune choked back a laugh, trying not to give away their presence.

"Alright, Rubes," Yang said. "Just like we practiced. Hit 'em like it owes you money."

"Right!" Ruby whispered excitedly as Yang's long tail wrapped around her.

"One…"

"Uhh, what are you guys doing?" Jaune asked, and Ruby grinned in return.

"I'm gonna tackle it!"

Jaune stared nervously.

"… Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Two…" With her tongue sticking out to the side, Yang cocked Ruby back and closed an eye.

"It's okay, Jaune. We've practiced this, like, at _least_ twice before," Ruby assured, and Jaune tensed up.

"But next to a cliff?"

"Three!"

Yang flung her tail forward, propelling her sister shell-first at dangerous speeds towards the animal.

"HEEYUHHHHHH!"

The deer's gaze locked on to the ball of death hurtling towards it, but it was too slow to move. It let out a yelp when Ruby collided with it, and it didn't do much to stop her momentum as they both bounced towards, and over, the side of the sharp slope.

"Ruby!"

Yang immediately threw herself at the plateau's edge, and swung her extensive tail down to successfully catch her while digging her scaly claws into the ground for stability. Unfortunately for Yang, most of her muscle and body weight was likely in that appendage, and she struggled to pull herself up.

Jaune scrambled to help, but Yang's comparably massive size, combined with Ruby and her shell, was far too much for him to do much of anything useful.

"Yang...! You're too heavy, I can't pull you up!" Jaune groaned as he tried to pull up on her arm, and she gave that familiar glare.

"Hey, are you saying what I think you're saying!?" Yang yelled as she desperately held on.

"What – I – Now is hardly the time for sensitivity issues!"

"No! I think now is the perfect time, because I'm _pretty sure _you just called me- "

The ground holding Yang started to give way, and Jaune had to jump back as it crumbled beneath him, sending the sisters down the slope with shrieks. Jaune peeked over, watching in horror as Yang gracelessly tumbled and plummeted, while Ruby gained some impressive air inside of her shell, until they both were shrouded by the trees below.

"Oh no... No, no, no, no!"

After hastily gathering his bow and arrow, Jaune sprinted over, and started down the path they all used to climb up, and the fear of his friends' possible demise set in.

What if they were dead? What if Ruby's shell broke from the fall? What if her head bounced around in that tiny carapace too much?

No, they couldn't be dead! Fate wouldn't be so unkind to such an innocent, gentle soul such as Ruby. She was a real friend to Jaune, and too sweet to be taken so young!

And Yang was... She was...

Well Ruby was nice!

"Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!"

* * *

He searched through the forest around where he thought they fell for, what must've been, at least an hour. He lifted an arm to shield his eyes as he tried to gauge the time based on the sun's position. Luckily, it wouldn't be setting anytime soon, so he still had a while to look.

But if he couldn't find them…

Jaune shook the thought from his head and carefully continued on with his exploration, encountering all kinds of wildlife, but, thankfully, no more deranged Monsters.

He was making his way through an annoyingly thick stretch of trees, when he found an injured deer lying on the ground. It saw him, but made no effort to leave. Was it the same one that went over the cliff with Ruby and Yang? If that were the case, then the sisters were probably somewhere close by... Also, how was this animal even still alive?

He cautiously approached and examined it. It was panting, and blood dripped from its face and two hind legs, but something odd about it caught his eye. He drew closer, looking over a particular wound with several shards of ice sticking out.

"What the...?"

How in the world did the deer get hurt like this?

He looked the animal in its eyes, and it returned its own indistinct gaze. Was it afraid? Was it finding comfort in his presence? Had it accepted that it would likely succumb to its injuries and was just now waiting for its death?

The most uncomfortable question on Jaune's mind was, should he put it out of its misery? It likely wouldn't live much longer, and it was probably in a lot of pain... So, it seemed like the right thing to do.

After all, it _was_ the animal they were going to kill earlier for food, but now that his main focus was to find his friends, it felt different, but still...

Jaune hesitantly pulled his weapon out, aiming it at the deer's head from point-blank range as it continued to watch him with its unchanging stare.

"Don't move, Human."

The hairs on his neck rose, and he froze as a cold, sharp point jabbed ever so slightly into the middle of his upper back.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" the icy, feminine voice asked.

"I, uhh- "

"I'll tell you what you're doing," she interrupted. "You're stealing provisions from the Ice Kingdom, which is a class B transgression! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Umm… what?"

"What are you, deaf? You were attempting to steal the hunt I've clearly claimed!"

Jaune looked to the deer in question, realizing where its odd wound must've come from, and he breathed a frustrated sigh.

"Listen, I wasn't trying to steal anything. I was just ending its suffering. If anything, I was helping you, so just take it, and we can be on our way."

The girl behind scoffed.

"Not a chance! Drop your weapon, and put your hands in the air! You're coming with me."

Jaune furrowed his brow, starting to feel the pressure, and a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead. He couldn't let this happen, he couldn't be taken away now. He had to find his friends, he had to find out if they were okay, he had to find Ruby and Yang!

"Okay – just – hold on second, this really isn't what it looks like! I'm just trying to- "

"No, I'm done waiting! Lay down your weapon immediately, or I _will _use force!"

He felt the blade dig further into his back. Instinctively flinching forward, he almost tripped over the deer, and the animal jumped up in a panic to run away. He quickly turned around, finally getting a view of the girl watching her hunt escape. Again, he was astonished.

Her features were striking. Pointed, tall ears, blue lips, and almost unnaturally pale skin with its only flaw being a thin, vertical scar over the left eye. She was petite and short, possibly even shorter than Ruby if not for her silver wedge heels. Her hair resembled thick, white dreadlocks that held a bluish tint, except they looked to be made of ice.

Instead of clothing, glimmering, silver plates were scantily dispersed across her snowy complexion in elegant, ornate designs, and Jaune wasn't sure if they were armor or just a natural part of her body. But at least they were covering enough!

She looked back to him, aiming a thin, pointed sword, and glaring with pure light-blue, glowing eyes... Well, he assumed she was looking at him. It was actually a little difficult to tell since she had no pupils or irises.

She was elegant, terrifying, and beautiful at the same time. Like a goddess, or maybe something out of a nightmare, he wasn't sure. If he had seen this girl outside his bedroom window at night, he just might've died of a heart attack.

"Oh, look what you've done!" she snapped and thrust with her rapier at Jaune's bow, trying to snag it away.

He was able to jump back fast enough, already wary of her agitated state.

"Just calm down!" he yelled.

The girl tried again and again, growing more irate with each failed attempt.

"And now you refuse to yield!? Does your idiocy know no ends?"

She took another heaving lunge at him, stabbing into a tree where Jaune had backed into just a moment ago, and, without thinking, he retaliated with a crushing right hook.

...

Her yelling stopped.

His heart was pounding.

She was face-first in the dirt.

And she wasn't moving.

"Oh, god," he muttered. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

He was conflicted. All his life he had been taught to never harm a girl.

But this was different, right? He just reacted in self-defense. And she tried to attack him, _kill_ him, even! Why was he even feeling guilty in the first place?

But she was so small compared to him! And he hit her so hard! Maybe there was something else he could've done?

Jaune's ill-fated inner turmoil was broken by some foliage rustling nearby, and he looked to see Ruby's head abruptly peak out of some brush. Her face lit up into an elated grin.

"Oh, thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster I found you!" She ran over, tackling him to the ground with a hug and basically knocking the air out of him. "You've gotta come quick, Yang's- AHHH!" Seeing the unconscious girl lying next to them, she jumped up and pointed a shaky finger at the body. "Oh my god, Jaune, you killed someone! Why would you do that!?"

He managed a calm answer as he caught his breath.

"Relax, Ruby. She's not dead." He stood and brushed some dirt off. "She tried to kill me, and so I kind of accidentally hit her and… knocked her out."

Her panic promptly dissipated to relief and understanding.

"Oh, okay!" she said as she bent down to curiously poke at the girl. "Jeez, why does everyone want to kill you?"

A short, nervous laugh escaped him.

"I wish I knew the answer to that."

"Even the Ice Elves don't like you, but I guess that's not surprising. They don't really like anyone."

"... Ice Elf?"

"Yeah, I think they live somewhere around here, but Yang knows more about them than I do..."  
Her eyes abruptly widened. "Oh my gosh, Yang!" She frantically ran back to Jaune, grabbing and shaking him. "Yang's hurt! She can't move, and I don't know what to do, Jaune! We have to help her!"

He placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place.

"It's alright, Ruby, calm down! We'll figure it out, but..." His eyes swayed over to the unmoving girl again. "I don't think we should just leave her here like this."

Ruby tapped her chin in thought.

"Hmm, you're probably right... Oh! Yang might know what to do with her! Come on!" Without waiting, Ruby took off down the path she came from. Smirking at her boundless energy that wasn't very reminiscent of an actual turtle, he turned and kneeled down next to the Elf after pulling her sword out of the tree.

"Okay… just don't kill me if you suddenly wake up…"

He scooped his arms under the Elf's knees and back, wary of where to place his hands with just how much skin she was showing. Trying to ignore how cold she felt, he lifted her up into his grasp and followed the trail that Ruby had visibly left behind. In contrast to Yang, this girl was much easier to carry.

Not that he was calling Yang fat or anything! Because that was definitely not the case!

Stepping over a log, the Elf leaned further into his chest, and he noticed the puffy swelling already under her eye. Another pang of guilt hit him, but Ruby's voice pulled his attention.

"Jaune, over here!"

He found them in a small clearing. Ruby was waving him over, and Yang seemed… completely fine? She looked like she was just lazing in the grass comfortably.

Yang looked to him, and her eyes quickly found his new 'companion.' She smirked.

"Wow, Jaune. You got bored of us already and had to go get an Elf to replace us, huh?"

"Oh come on, quit it, Yang," Ruby defended him. "We've gotta figure out what to do with her."

"Well, what the hell happened? It looks like you really beat the shit out of her or something."

"He did," Ruby answered before Jaune could get a word in, and Yang looked at him incredulously.

"What the fuck, man!? I tell you not to touch Ruby, and then you go and take your anger out on poor, defenseless Elves?"

"Okay- " Jaune started, trying to regain order. "First of all, she was not defenseless, and, second, she tried to murder me with a sword!"

Just like Ruby, Yang's disbelief faded to reassurance.

"Oh, well... good on you for kicking her ass then. You gonna keep her?"

"What? Of course not, that's kidnapping!"

"Actually, we were hoping you would know where she lives," Ruby proposed to Yang, and she nodded.

"Sure do! It's not too far from here."

"Then that's where we'll go," Jaune declared. "We'll take her home, drop her off, then, hopefully, we'll still have enough time to find some food."

"But, what do we do about Yang?" Ruby asked. "She can't move."

"I told you, Ruby. I'm fine," Yang said, waving off her sister's concerns.

Ruby's hands sassily found their way to her hips.

"Well, if you're fine, then get up!"

Yang hesitated, frowning defiantly, but finally, she rose up unsteadily, her face broadcasting the pain she was trying to hide as she slowly placed her weight onto the strongest part of her tail.

She fell back to the ground with a grunt of pain.

"See? You're not okay!" Ruby chided her, and Yang's face tinted pink as she silently lowered her head. Ruby turned back to Jaune with a worried face. "Jaune, what are we gonna do?"

He hummed in thought to himself. How would he get both Yang and the Elf elsewhere? Lifting them was out of the question, as their combined weight might've exceeded his own by at least five times...

A familiar situation popped up in his mind, and he thought back to season two, episode five of Baird Gill's Maximum Bucknasty Survival, the same one where the guy had to figure out how to transport a sick elephant to a doctor.

"I've got an idea. Hold her for a bit." He abruptly handed the lightweight girl over to Ruby. Jaune hurried into the forest, leaving her with a dumbfounded expression stuck on her face.

He came back a short time later, carrying a large number of suitable, thin trees and branches that he'd obtained. He sat down in the grass, crisscross style, and began peeling the bark off of them while Ruby stood awkwardly watching from above.

"Uhh... What are you... doing…?

"We're making rope."

After teaching Ruby and Yang how, he enlisted their help in stripping the bark, separating the good bark from the useless, and twisting it all into rope.

It had taken a while, but, with their assistance, he had created a half-net, half-stretcher... thing. It wasn't pretty, nor comfortable, but it would allow them to get Yang and the Elf from point A to point B.

"You're not serious... Are you?" Yang asked after Jaune helped her situate herself into the net.

"Desperate times call for desperate inventions," he responded, handing Yang the unconscious Elf.

"You sure you can do this? You sure I'm not _too_ _fat_?"

Jaune let out a vexed grumble, choosing not to respond as there were probably no good answers to that question. He and Ruby each grabbed a piece of rope tied to the net, lifted it up on their shoulder, and began the hopefully-not-so-long haul in the direction specified by Yang, dragging her across the ground.

Immediately, Jaune felt the pain and exhaustion of his muscles fighting against him from the exertion of pulling the load over tree roots, through grass, and around obstructions. He glanced over to Ruby, who looked to be struggling just about as much as he was.

Yang's incessant yammering wasn't going to speed up the process either.

"Why are we doing this girl any favors anyway if she tried to kill you?"

"I'm doing _you_ a favor, and you tried to kill me _twice_," he quipped through his teeth.

"That niceness is gonna get you killed itself."

"Don't say that, Yang!" Ruby told her, already breathing heavily. "... It's what makes him special."

Jaune smiled at the compliment, but really, he was just doing what felt right, and that's all it was.

Yang laughed.

"What? Being so nice that you get wrapped up in shitty situations?"

"At least I'm not the one who yeeted Ruby off a cliff," Jaune shot over his shoulder.

"I don't know what that means, but why don't you say it to my face!"

Jaune stopped pulling, and fierce blue eyes turned to meet purple.

"Do you want me to leave you here?"

Yang looked taken aback, and her gaze drifted away, glaring at something in the distance as Ruby stifled a giggle. Thankfully, that kept Yang quiet for a while.

Time passed, and then more time passed. His body felt like it was almost on fire, and he was pretty sure he was doing most, if not all, of the pulling now.

"Hmm," Jaune heard Yang thinking aloud. "Do you think these come off?"

Curiosity drew his attention back to find Yang's hand grabbing a hold of the plating covering one of the Elf's breasts.

He instantly snapped his focus forwards again, and his face might've been beat-red if it probably wasn't already from the workout.

"Don't, Yang!" he shouted. "That's sexual assault!"

He wasn't sure why he expected her to care about such a thing. It was fairly obvious by now that that mattered very little to anyone here.

"Huh, so they _do_ come off," Yang said to herself.

Jaune sighed and shook his head.

"Yang..."

She let out a boisterous cackle.

"Chill, I'm just kidding! They don't come off... I tried."

Maybe it was the lack of energy left for any jokes, but Jaune was quickly losing all patience he had left.

"I thought you said it wasn't far!" he groaned.

"It's not! You're just slow."

Jaune rolled his eyes.

"We're only going so slow cause you're- ..." He caught himself, not wanting to go down that road again.

"What? Say it!"

"Look!" Ruby yelled.

In front of them, they could see the normal forest coming to a sudden end, only to be replaced by one made of ice. _Everything_ was ice. The ground. The trees. The leaves. By everything Jaune had ever learned about physics, none of it made sense. In the distance, a castle, reminiscent of something from Disney World, peeked over the tree tops. And, of course, what else would it be made up of other than glistening ice?

Standing at the distinct line where the seemingly two different climate zones met, he simply looked around in baffled amazement.

"... Geographically... this is literally impossible," he murmured with visible breaths.

But, at least it made pulling Yang and the Elf _much_ easier. As soon as they hit the icy surface, it was smooth sailing, and Jaune's burning muscles could take a much deserved breather as the frosty air soothed them.

They came up on the fortress shortly after, stopping a safe distance away, and noticed a couple of Elven sentinels already eyeing them from their post in front of the giant doors, outfitted with spears and large shields. They were similar looking to the one he was pulling, except taller, older, and more built.

"Here we go," Jaune mumbled as he took the unconscious Elf from a shivering Yang and headed towards the guards.

"Make it quick!" Yang called out. "I'm freezing my scales off here!"

Only when he noticed Ruby wasn't with him did he turn around to find that she hadn't moved from Yang's side. "You coming, Ruby?"

With chattering teeth, she was slow to respond.

"I… don't think I can… We coldblooded Monsters… don't do well with extreme temperatures."

He reluctantly nodded in understanding. It looked like he was doing this alone.

"Alright, try to stay warm."

She did as told, and huddled up next to Yang.

Breaking the slight hold that the icy ground had on the bottoms of his shoes, he turned and faced the guards, who were watching him closely, and he hesitantly made his way over.

"Freeze!" one of them commanded as they both trained their spears at him. Jaune would've chuckled at their choice of word if his nerves weren't about to jump out of his skin. "Does the Ice Princess still draw breath?"

_Ice Princess…?_

That didn't bode well for Jaune. But everything was going to be fine. On the way over, he had planned this exact conversation out perfectly leading up to this very moment, tactfully taking into consideration all possibilities and varying degrees of disaster.

"It's okay, she's alive. I- "

"He knocked her the fuck out!" Yang shouted.

Except that possibility. He did not plan on telling them the truth.

The guards' expressions broke into shock as they looked to each other.

"Is that true?" the other guardian asked, turning back to him.

Jaune grit his teeth.

"I, uhh..."

"You must meet with the Ice Queen at once!"

One of the guards moved to open the doors that led into a short hallway, and the other placed a hand on Jaune's back, hastily ushering him inside.

"Umm, r-really, it's fine," Jaune stammered. "I don't want to make a big fuss about it or anything. You can just have her, and I can- "

His words fell away when another set of doors opened into an extravagant, grandiose chamber with multiple floors, filled with beautiful, important-looking Elven women in robes standing around doing very little but conversing.

"My Queen!" The guard's call cut through the chatter of the room, drawing all eyes to linger on them as if time had stopped still. "A Human has bested the Princess in combat, yet she still lives!"

Small gasps littered the room, and quiet whispers followed.

Jaune gulped as he awkwardly shifted some weight from one foot to the other. How he could manage to be sweating so much in this freezing ice castle was astounding.

Movement stirred on the staircase, and an Elf calmly made her way down, her sharpened, critical gaze never leaving Jaune.

She was taller than most of the others, held a striking resemblance to the girl in his arms, and her attire seemed to signify authority with the way the collar of her mantle rose up. If there was ever a time where he actually wished Yang was with him, it was now...

With each click of her heels across the icy floor, more and more blood felt like it was draining from his face.

The Ice Queen stopped in front of him, eye-level, and looked to the sleeping girl.

"Is it true?" she curtly asked in a daunting tone, and Jaune's words got stuck in his throat. When he didn't respond, her glowing gaze centered back on him. "Is it true that you defeated my sister in battle?" she asked again, this time a little more impatiently.

Jaune forced himself to speak.

"I... y-yes, but... I didn't want any more harm to come to her, so I brought her back home."

The Queen raised an appraising brow, leaning in slightly.

"That would be unnecessary, wouldn't it?"

Jaune's eyes shot wide open when the woman abruptly connected her terribly cold lips with his, her hands pulling and holding him in a kiss. He didn't know what to do. His own hands were still busy holding the girl in his arms.

But as quickly as it started, she let go of him and turned to slowly walk in the opposite direction, hands behind her back.

"Yes... It would seem you are adequate."

Jaune found himself to be oddly short of breath, like he was sapped of energy, and he was pretty sure it wasn't just because a gorgeous woman randomly kissed him.

"... Uhh... What?"

The Ice Queen spun around to face him again.

"_**WEISS**_**,**" the woman's commanding voice boomed through the hall, somehow pulling the Elf from her sleep in a panic.

Weiss stared at her sister with a dumbfounded gape.

"Winter...?"

"Tell me how it is that you fell to a Human in combat."

Winter nodded towards Jaune, and Weiss followed her gesture up to the Human eyes looking back down. Her face twisted into an amalgam of horror, indignation, and confusion, and she writhed to free herself from his grasp. After getting her bearings and brushing off imaginary dust, she turned to Winter, shoving an angry finger in Jaune's face.

"This _delinquent_ was committing a crime against the Ice Kingdom by stealing from us, and trying to sabotage my hunt!" She calmed herself a bit, returning to her haughty self. "So I confronted the shameful thief, hoping to bring him in without violence, and he got lucky with a single strike."

Winter sighed.

"Regardless if it were luck, you engaged an enemy you could not defeat, losing all your other provisions in the process, and, by extension, failing your test magnificently..." For the first time, Jaune saw the corner of her lips curl up into a smirk, and it set him even more on edge as she stared at _him_. "But it would seem that fate has another calling for you, Weiss..." Her voice was softer now, much less intimidating, and Jaune wasn't sure it that in itself was relieving or scary. "What is your name?"

"Uhh, J-Jaune Arc..."

She placed an arm around the back of his shoulder, much to his unease, and turned their focus to Weiss.

"A fine name. Let us hope my sister grows accustomed to it in time."

Jaune scrunched his face in confusion, and Weiss's face dropped.

"Winter..." Weiss started. "You don't mean- "

"Jaune," Winter cut in loudly, making sure the entire room could hear. "You have defeated the Ice Princess in an honorable duel, and, as such, you have claimed her as your wife!"

"What!?" Jaune and Weiss exclaimed simultaneously as the room burst into excessive cheer, and Winter released Jaune in order to happily begin speaking to others.

"Winter!" Weiss said loudly over the commotion, forcing out a smile and trying to salvage the situation. "Our people haven't abided by that archaic custom in over a century! Do I not have a say in this... _delicate_ matter?"

Winter returned her severe look.

"Your best interest is for the good of our people, is it not?"

"Well... of-of course it is, but- "

"Then it is decided."

"Uhh," Jaune spoke up, poking his head in between them. "Do _I_ get a say in this...?"

"Not unless your wish is to be marked as hostile and beheaded," Winter informed coldly. "Do you wish to be beheaded?"

Jaune quickly backed up.

"… I do not."

"Then you will instead be wedded."

Winter grabbed Jaune's right wrist and twisted the palm of his hand upwards. She then took an elaborate knife from nowhere, and made a long incision into it as he groaned in pain and horror. After doing the same to Weiss's left, revealing dark-blue blood, she took hold of their hands and forced them to intertwine their fingers, mixing the warm and cold, different colored bloods together.

To Jaune's disbelief and Weiss's frustration, the liquid began to emit a pulsating glow as it seeped out, cementing their grip to each other. He tried to tug away on reaction, and found it quite painful.

"Ow!" Weiss whined. "Stop pulling, you dolt!"

"Let us commemorate the union of our races, as this is truly a remarkable day!" Winter shouted, and the room roared even louder.

That was enough for Jaune. After having his hand sliced open for a forced marriage and fused to someone else's, he did _not_ want to find out how Elves liked to party. He wanted out, even if that meant he had to take Weiss with him.

"Uhh, actually, my friends are kind of waiting for me outside freezing to death, so I really need to get going... "

To his relief, Winter didn't look like she wanted to kill him.

"Understandable, dear brother. You look exhausted from your bout. I will have travel arrangements made for the two of you and your companions at once." She nodded to another Elf, who returned her own and walked off. Winter turned back to Jaune. "What part of town do you reside? I only ask so that I may know the whereabouts of my sister."

Shaking off the weirdness of being called 'brother,' he wasn't exactly sure how to tell Winter that he was homeless.

"Well, uhh, I actually just kind of got here, and I've been staying at a friend's…. _cabin_… in the woods."

Winter shook her head.

"That simply will not do. There is a small, run-down, yet private house in the city that we no longer have use for. You will take it, as a wedding gift, and I will also have funds transferred to an account for you under Weiss's name so as to not attract unwanted attention." Again, she motioned to someone in the crowd, and an Elf even taller than Winter, and just as severe looking, bore forward. Winter introduced her with a wave of her hand, "This is my right-hand, Kimmy Ironwood. She will escort you, and make sure you arrive safely to your new residence personally."

* * *

The sun was setting by the time they were on their way back.

Jaune was figuratively and literally freezing his buns off as he rode in a 'luxurious' carriage of ice with Yang and Ruby sitting all the way on top of him trying to get warm. Connected to his right hand sticking out of the pile of turtle shell and serpent tail, Weiss sulked, staring out the window.

"... I cannot believe this is happening to me…"

"I c-c-can't b-believe that you guys are m-m-married now," Yang barely managed to tease through her intense shivering as she pressed Jaune's face further into her chest. "You guys even have m-matching b-black eyes."

Pulling away, Jaune asked her a question that he already suspected an answer for.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you, Yang?"

Yang shrugged playfully, and he rolled his eyes as he gave Weiss's fingers a light squeeze to get her attention.

"So, how long are our hands gonna be stuck like this?"

"For the next twenty-four miserable hours of our lives," she grumbled.

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. Only a day? He was expecting something more along the lines of _forever..._

Yang grinned slyly.

"Does that m-mean you'll be s-sleeping together?"

"Regrettably," Weiss answered before pointing a finger in Jaune's face. "But it's only for one night, and don't you go trying anything, or I will freeze it off!"

Yang leaned down to whisper loudly in Jaune's ear.

"Oh, I like her, Jaune. You picked a good one."

"He didn't _pick_ anything!" Weiss shouted. "Neither of us did! This whole thing only happened because he decided to be an idiot and steal from me!"

"Yeah, and then he w-whooped your butt in a fight!" Yang countered, and Weiss growled.

"Don't make me use my ice magic on you, serpent!"

"I'd c-crush you before you got the chance!" She snatched up Weiss's free hand by the wrist with the tip of her tail, and Weiss wiggled to break free.

As the two of them continued to squabble over nothing, Jaune's eyes fell to the turtle shell in his lap that may as well have been empty with how quiet Ruby had been since he'd come back. A few soft knocks on the carapace prompted her to poke her head out a little.

"Everything okay, Ruby?" he asked.

"Oh... Yeah, uhh… everything's fine," she said sadly and ducked back in.

Jaune's lips curled into a frown as he peeked inside.

"I can tell something's bothering you, and don't tell me it's just the cold."

She was reluctant at first, but Jaune pulled back as Ruby's gloomy face came out, mere inches away from his.

"It's just... even though you're married and have a fancy house and stuff now, can we still be friends?"

Jaune chuckled and shook his head at the silly question.

"What? Ruby, of course we'll still be friends. I mean, it'd be pretty hard not to since we'll be living together."

At that, silver eyes grew as if Jaune had just promised her the world.

"You... you mean we can stay with you?"

"Yeah, where do you think we're headed? Did you think I was just going to drop you guys off in the forest and ditch you after taking me in?"

"What!?" Weiss exclaimed, shoving Yang off of her. "These _reptiles,_ living with us? Are you insane?"

"Yang, did you hear that?" Ruby asked excitedly, finally coming out of her shell fully again. "We get to live in a house! A real, live, actual house with actual doors!"

Yang smirked.

"Is that the part you're most excited about?"

The carriage slowed to a halt, and a polite, melodic knock on the door came before Ironwood opened it.

"We've arrived."

"F-finally!" Yang said, shoving passed everyone to get out into the warmth as fast as she can, apparently able to move just fine on her own now, and their jaws dropped in awe as they stepped out to survey the grand building in a secluded part of the city.

A grand mansion stood before them with two floors that stretched over a wide, fenced-in yard, freshly cut grass, and masonry materials instead of ice! This was nothing like Winter had described at all.

Jaune subtly glanced over to get a look at each of their reactions.

Well, most of them were impressed.

Weiss scoffed.

"How could anyone be expected to live in such a shoddy place?"

"I-CALL-FIRST-DIBS-ON-A-BEDROOM!" Ruby shouted, running and giving Weiss a hefty stiff arm.

"Don't even think about it! The master bedroom is mine!"

"You know," Jaune heard Yang say, catching her sweet smile when he turned. "I was really wrong about you, Jaune. Maybe this whole, 'being friends with a Human' thing won't be so bad..."

Giving a nervous laugh, Jaune scratched the back of his neck.

"Thanks, Yang... It's kinda crazy how this all turned out."

"And who knows?" she continued. "Now that we're staying together, we might be able to get to know each other _even_ _better..._" The tip of her tail snaked its way up Jaune's leg, shaking her rear provocatively as she slinked by.

Jaune let out a surprised yelp, and Weiss snatched the appendage.

"Excuse me, that's my husband you're speaking to like that!"

Yang grinned mischievously.

"Oh, don't act like you care now."

Weiss tried to cross her arms, until she remembered her awkward situation with their hands.

"Whether I care or not does not change the simple fact that we are married!"

"So you do care!"

It's a good thing this was a big house, or else their being in constant contact with each other might've ended up in burning it down. He would make sure they had rooms on opposite floors, maybe on different sides of the house…

But there were still questions running through his mind.

Why did Winter force Weiss into a marriage she didn't want? Why did she give them a house and money? Why did she need to kiss him to come to that decision?

And what in the hell even happened today!?

* * *

_Leave a review telling me what you liked or hated! Thanks for readingggggggg! ily_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey! Remember this fic? It's been a HOT minute, and I apologize for that. Like I said, I'm a slow writer, though I never thought it'd take like 4 months, but life, uhh, finds a way..._

_Anyway, this chapter is way longer than the others, over 3 times the length of the first chapter._

_Again, I cannot thank you guys enough for checking this story out. It still blows me away how many people actually like it._

_So, uhh, enjoy!_

* * *

"How about this?" Ruby asked Jaune excitedly, holding up a decorative flower pot that had been sitting on the kitchen table.

"No, you dolt," Weiss answered in his stead, leaning against the counter with her black eye looking much more noticeable today. "You can't cook that. Furthermore, cooking something does not inherently make it taste good... or even edible in this case."

Pouting, Ruby lowered her head and took an indignant bite of her sugar-doused cereal flakes.

"I bet Jaune could do it…"

Jaune gave a small laugh as he put another freshly cleaned dish from their breakfast back into one of the cabinets.

"I don't think I could manage that, Ruby. But, speaking of _cook_ing…" He grabbed a tin foil-covered tray from the counter and set it down in front of Ruby. "Have you ever had a _cook_ie before?"

She brought a finger to her chin, and her face scrunched as she pondered the question intensely, humming thoughtfully to herself.

"… Nope!"

Jaune smirked at the response he expected and pulled the foil off, revealing a baker's dozen of fresh, chocolate chip cookies.

Ruby cooed as her eyes lit up in curiosity.

"Oh! They smell so good! Can I try one?"

"Of course, go ahead."

Bouncing in her seat with anticipation, Ruby gleefully began looking over the bunch as she decided which one to take.

"Cookies for breakfast?" Weiss asked with disapproval. "I thought you made those for later."

Jaune smiled at her knowingly.

"Don't worry, Weiss. You can have one too."

Her mouth opened to retort, but it settled into an annoyed frown as she ultimately gave in.

"I suppose having one wouldn't be the end of the world."

She joined Ruby in picking out a cookie, attempting to seem only mildly interested as she appraised each one.

The kitchen door was thrown open dramatically.

"_Good morning, new familyyyyyy~!"_ Yang sang loudly, slithering in, wearing just a bra and her specially-made Wyrm panties.

"Morning, Yang," Jaune said in unison with Ruby as he averted his eyes.

The corner of Weiss's lip curled in disgust.

"Ew. Put some clothes on, you uncivilized brute."

"Says the one wearing even less," Yang quipped as she gave Jaune's behind a good-morning slap with her tail while shoving her face in the fridge. Weiss scoffed.

"Excuse you, but I wear only the finest of magic Elven armors. It allows me to be as nimble as possible in combat, and it covers _plenty_."

"Yeah, maybe if you're fighting in a strip club."

Finally taking a bite out of her cookie, Ruby's chewing slowed to a crawl as her eyes expanded.

"… This... is... AMAZING! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you didn't make these before! Can we have this everyday!?"

Jaune laughed at her enthusiasm.

"I don't know about that. I think you'd get tired of them."

"I could never get tired of these!" she countered, already taking a bite of another cookie before finishing the first. "Oh, I have a great idea! We could sell these with the other food we make! It could be like a combo deal or something!"

"Now you're starting to think like a real business-Monster!"

Jaune gave her an approving high-five, and she beamed back a proud, crumb-speckled grin.

"Really?" Weiss asked, clearly unimpressed. "Becoming a food merchant? That's your big plan you've been going on about?"

"Yeah!" Ruby happily confirmed. "What do you think?"

Weiss returned a condescending stare.

"Fantastic… But first, I'd like a shower."

_That_ gave Jaune significant pause.

"Uhh… Weiss?"

She looked to him expectantly, and he gestured towards their connected hands to remind her as if she'd somehow forgotten.

"You have eyelids with which to close your eyes, don't you?" she asked severely. "You have the ability to turn your head, yes?"

"… Well... I mean yeah, but- "

"Then do so. I haven't had a shower since before you made me take a dirt-nap yesterday, and I'm not waiting another day to get one… You would do well with one yourself."

Jaune's cheeks pinked a little in embarrassment, and he subtly brought his nose to his armpit for a quick check.

She wasn't wrong.

"... I guess it _would_ be nice to have a real shower again."

"Good. Glad we agree."

Yang failed to keep a snicker under control while pouring her own bowl of cereal next to Ruby who was watching them leave with an interesting expression that Jaune couldn't pinpoint.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure this'll end well," Yang teased, nudging an unresponsive Ruby as Weiss headed for the kitchen door, pulling Jaune along with her. "Have fun you two! Don't do anything I would do!"

* * *

Weiss led him to the master bathroom on the first floor with the shower and bath combo. Unfortunately for them, the fact that it was waiting behind a sliding glass door instead of a shower curtain would prove to be an annoyance.

He'd seen the bathroom earlier after they woke up, and the thought of having a relaxing bath was enticing, but out of reach, or so he would've thought anyway. Though he was quite apprehensive about this idea, Weiss somehow seemed totally calm, up until they were actually in the bathroom.

Jaune closed the door behind them, and Weiss stood rigidly for a bit, staring towards the shower. He leaned his head in questioningly, trying to meet her gaze.

"Are you gonna turn the water on?" he asked curiously.

Glowing eyes snapped to him.

"What? I- of course! Just… don't rush me!".

After pushing aside the glass door, she reached into the shower and turned a creaky knob. The water came out with a hiss, and Jaune swallowed hard.

An ice-themed clock on the wall ticked every second that their eyes watched the water pour out of the head, spraying the bottom of the luxurious tub and inviting them in. Jaune could hear the beating of his heart in his ears, and, finally, Weiss turned to peer up at him.

"You go first," she said.

"What? Why me? This was your idea."

"Well… it's also my idea that you should go first."

Jaune frowned and hummed to himself before an idea struck him.

"How about we play 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' for it?"

Weiss narrowed her glowing eyes in open skepticism.

"Rock... paper... scissors?... You just made that up."

A small laughed escaped him.

"No, I swear. It's an old game me and my sisters played to decide who got first dibs on pretty much everything when we were little. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, paper beats rock," he explained as he made the respective signs with his free hand for each. "We both pick one on the count of three, okay?"

Weiss merely lifted a condescending brow.

"… You want us to play a children's gesture game?"

"Well, do you have any better ideas?"

"Yes, I do as a matter of fact," she said, lifting her chin. "You go first."

Jaune rolled his eyes and lifted his hand into the starting position.

"Come on, Weiss. Ready?" She glared for a moment before hesitantly mimicking his movement. "Alright… One, two, three!"

Jaune used the same tactic he always swore by when it came to this game of semi-chance. When playing with a person he'd never gone against before, he chose 'paper' first. It worked every time, sometimes!

Weiss's hand came down with a delayed, unchanging fist, securing her choice of 'rock.'

Jaune studied the results briefly.

"Paper beats rock," he informed her, covering her cold fist with his palm.

Weiss stared at their newly connected hands for an awkward moment before pulling and turning away.

"I'm not familiar enough with this game to dispute it, but let it be known that I feel cheated."

A playful smile tugged at the corners of his lip.

"What? C'mon, Weiss, I won fair and square."

She let out a deep, bitter sigh.

"Fine…" A heavy silence filled the room, until she sent him a side-glance. "Well?"

Jaune's eyes flitted to and fro confusedly.

"… ...What?"

Throwing an exasperated hand in the air, she scowled something fierce at him.

"Look away, you dolt!"

Jaune immediately did a one-eighty, locking his eyes on the front door.

"R-Right, right!... Sorry... "

"And may the Flying Spaghetti Monster have mercy on your soul if I catch you peeking," Jaune heard from behind before the clanking of Weiss's armor progressively began to hit the floor.

Her warning was somewhat reminiscent of the previous night's casual threats to stay on his side of the bed, 'or else.'

Though, before that, it was a long night of getting situated into their new house. Jaune and Yang had promptly raided the fridge in search for food, which Winter was kind enough to have stocked prior, and Ruby scoured the mansion from top to bottom while Weiss complained about having to be there. Then, when it came time to sleep, he was confined to only about half of his side of the bed, which made the actual sleeping part a bit difficult.

But now, his face was probably glowing red at the mental image of what was behind him that he was trying to shove away.

"Alright," Weiss started, her voice now significantly more quieter as she failed to hide her nerves. "Just… sit on the toilet while I go in."

Jaune did as instructed, backing up and making sure to keep his stiff gaze from straying away from the door. Weiss was undoubtedly watching him like a hawk to keep him in check, and there was no telling how big the eruption of her fury might be if he were to make any wrong move.

He felt the edge of the toilet graze the back of his legs, and he made sure the cover was down before taking a seat.

The glass door slid open, and the gentle beating of the water grew louder as the extraordinarily cold water splashed on his hand while Weiss climbed in. She shut the door as much as she could, blocked from completely closing it by Jaune's wrist.

And so his knee bounced nervously as he fidgeted in silence, trying to keep his mind on anything in the world other than what was going on behind that door.

His eyes fell to the bland, white tiles on the floor. They looked like something his grandma would've picked out for a house. He noticed the little bits of dust in the cracks between them, dust that wouldn't have been there if this was actually his grandma's house since she was such a neat-freak, but, for the most part, everything else was fairly clean.

Next, he reached to open the cabinet underneath the sink to check for towels, which they probably should've done first, but, luckily, there was a few waiting for them. He grabbed them and placed them on top of the sink.

And then, his eyes found… nothing else much of interest. How was he already out of distractions?

He had to think of something, and, with everything passing through his mind that he was trying to force it to latch onto, a solemn, fleeting thought grabbed his focus, and he found himself longing for the home he hoped to see again some day.

"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?" Weiss unsympathetically asked, interrupting his deliberations.

Jaune had to catch himself before reflexively turning his head to respond.

"I was just… thinking about my family… My parents and my sisters."

"Did something happen to them?"

"No, no… Well, I hope not. The right question seems to be, what happened to me?"

Weiss flicked cold water at him.

"Can you stop speaking in riddles?"

"Sorry… What I'm saying is, I don't really remember how I got to this place. I just woke up at the beach a couple of days ago, and so I've been sticking together with Ruby and Yang since…"

"You don't remember anything?"

Jaune shook his head.

"Nothing… My family's probably crazy-worried about me… Ruby says the city is dangerous for me, but maybe through helping them with cooking and selling food, I'll be able to earn enough money to buy a boat or something and get home." That was the best plan he could think of, or maybe sneaking onto someone else's boat to hitch a ride? But there'd be no telling what would happen if he got caught, or where it would even be going. And that plan was very dependent on how far away the nearest Human civilization was. "Where is this island anyways? I asked Ruby and Yang, but they didn't know."

"Well, using your terms of distance, we are roughly five hundred miles, or eight hundred kilometers, east of another group of Human-infested islands I think you call the… the _Ba..ma..has…?_"

Jaune had to make an effort to stifle his laugh.

"… The Bahamas?"

"Whatever!" Weiss shot back. "It sounds like something a newborn would be babbling!"

Smirking to himself, Jaune started thinking about where exactly he was, as there was something familiar about his location. Recalling some geography lessons from his favorite teacher back in high school and some sci-fi movies, his blood ran cold when he realized they were probably dead center in the Bermuda Triangle.

He had heard so many different things about the mysterious region. Conspiracy theories about the lost city of Atlantis, paranormal theories with people being abducted by aliens, theories involving rifts in time, and many people even dismissed it all as nonsense based on a lack of evidence. He was always very skeptical himself, but now, with everything that had happened to him, he was willing to believe just about anything.

Though, there was some good news in this new information; he wasn't _ridiculously_ far away from his home in Florida. If he could at least just get to the Bahamas themselves, he'd probably be home free. The bad news was that it was still going to take some considerable effort to get there.

"Hey, uhh," Ruby's quiet voice squeaked from the other side of the door. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Yeah...?" Jaune answered. "Everything's fine, Ruby. Why do you ask?"

"Well, umm... There's, like, some water coming out..."

"What- where!?" Weiss exclaimed, and Jaune noticed a growing stream of water leaking out from the opened shower door, going behind the toilet he was sitting on, and finding its way under the wooden door out into the hallway. "Oh no, no, no- Jaune get in!" Weiss commanded as she tried to shut the shower door further onto his wrist in panic.

"Ow! What!? Are you serious?"

"Yes, you dolt! Winter will kill me if there's any water damage to the house, and I can't close this thing with you on the other side!"

"Weiss, I don't think a little puddle is going to-"

"Hurry up!" she cut in. "Ruby, go find a mop and clean it up quickly!"

"... What's a mop?" Ruby asked.

Weiss let out an exasperated growl.

"Were you raised in a forest or something? And what are you doing out there anyways? Your room isn't even on this side of the house!"

"Oh- I, uhh, well-! I just- I just, umm," Ruby faltered before putting on a show of innocence.. "Uhh- Oh! Uhh, how ever did I find myself here?" Her voice became more distant as her footsteps hurried away. "Haha! Such a big house this is! So easy to lose my way! But do not worry, friends! I shall go find this 'mop' you speak of!"

Jaune softly shook his head with a smile as he started removing his pants.

"What. Are. You. Doing!?" Weiss screamed in a horrified voice, and he froze in place, afraid that he might've misunderstood what she wanted. With his trousers still halfway down his legs, he gave the only answer he could think of.

"I'm... getting in the shower...?"

"Why are you taking off your clothes!? We can't both possibly be indecent at the same time!"

He scrunched his face in confusion.

"What? Why not?"

"Because... it's just so unseemly!"

"... Weiss, I'm not getting in the shower with my clothes on."

After more stuttering, and lack of any logical reason, she surrendered.

"... Fine!... Just go faster!"

He did so, speeding up the process until he encountered a problem.

"Uhh, Weiss…?"

He didn't need to see her face to know that she was losing all patience.

"_What?"_

"I, uhh, I can't get my jacket off while our hands are connected..."

"Then just rip the stupid thing off and find some other clothes in the house later! It's falling apart anyway!"

He looked down to his jacket that he'd gotten from one of his sisters and frowned. It was the one with the bunny's face on it, and it _was_ in pretty rough shape if he was being honest with himself. The rabbit itself was almost unrecognizable. The hoodie had been through hell with him the past couple days, being stabbed with a giant scorpion's stinger and crushed by a dragon's tail.

He sighed, accepting that he'd have to part ways with it.

Jaune regretfully shredded through the remainder of his jacket and equally tattered shirt, and hurried inside, joining Weiss through the side closest to the shower head.

The water was beyond cold, and, making sure to keep his head turned away, their bare shoulders brushed each other's as he tried to scurry to the far end of the cramped space designed for one.

"Watch it!" Weiss scolded him, hastily slamming the door shut.

Jaune was already shivering.

"Why do you have the water so cold?"

"The water is perfectly fine."

The water was not perfectly fine. In fact, it was the opposite of fine. It was freezing, and his nails dug into the palm of his free hand as it continuously splashed on him. At least it was doing well to distract him from thinking about his wife right next to him.

His incredibly beautiful… and_ incredibly_ naked wife…_ right_ next to him.

Oh no, he was thinking about her again… thinking about her curves… thinking about her perfect body… thinking about how close they were…

And something was rising when he really didn't want it to…

Curse his damned hormones! Even the icy water couldn't stop this storm from brewing!

He was facing away, but, just to be safe, he dared to turn his head just enough to make sure Weiss wasn't able to see his own little Monster.

He was surprised to meet her eyes that were already peeking his way, and they quickly darted forward again. She tried to busy herself with idly running a hand through her dreadlocks of icy hair, and her cheeks lit up bright red on her pale skin.

"… I'm finished," Weiss stiffly announced, and Jaune snapped his gaze away when she began to turn around to switch places with him. Keeping his 'goods' away from her watchful eyes as best as he could, he reached for the hot water knob, then the cold, turning both of them to his favor.

It was instant satisfaction. He breathed a contented sigh as the hot water sprayed him and ran down his skin.

"Are you insane!?" Weiss shrieked, and Jaune could feel the pull on his hand from Weiss trying to keep away. "The water is literally steaming! Turn it off!"

"Alright, alright. I'll cool it down some." He twisted the knob back a little bit.

"No, turn it off, you idiot! It's way too hot!" she argued, shoving him against the wall and turning the hot water completely off.

After regaining his footing, Jaune made a noise somewhere between a screech and a squawk as he was assaulted by the returning frigid water, and he frantically tried to heat it up again. He was only able to turn it slightly before Weiss intervened, grabbing hold as well.

"Weiss, c'mon! I'm not freezing to death in here!"

"Well, _I'm_ not burning alive! Let go!"

"_You_ let go! It's my turn, damn it!"

Both of Weiss's hands emitted a bright blue glow as she began to expel her ice magic from them. Unfortunately for Jaune, one of his hands was still connected to hers, and the sheer pain of the frost made him recoil in pain, pulling Weiss and robbing her of her balance on the slippery tub. A shrill yelp rang out as she tumbled into Jaune and onto her back, yanking him down on top of her and landing with a loud thud.

His forearms may have hurt, but at least the water hitting Jaune's back was somewhat warm now... Or maybe it was just the heat of the intense blush crawling up their faces as their eyes met, then peeked down to take in their new positions.

As if being invited, 'Little Jaune' was rising even more to the occasion, pushing exactly against where he wanted to go.

"… GET OFF OF ME!"

Ice began launching everywhere, pelting Jaune as he struggled to right himself with one hand while Weiss punched, kicked, and hollered.

"I'm trying!"

A flailing backhand connected with Jaune's jaw, and Weiss managed to slip away from underneath him and out of the shower as he took a graceless fall back down. The ice covering the tub's floor pricked at his skin, and he frantically crawled out over the tub's edge, throwing himself onto the velvety bathroom mat and barely catching a glimpse of Weiss in a towel rushing out.

Lying on the floor, he pushed the door closed with the little energy he had left and laid his head on the floor…

* * *

He was free.

Though it was definitely sore, his right hand was prematurely free of Weiss's grip. After washing off the combined dried blood on it, he laughed at how easily Winter's stupid magical-ice-seal-marriage-thing was nullified by just a little bit of hot water. Not even Weiss knew that would happen.

Regardless, Jaune wore a liberated smile as he rummaged through some old, left behind clothes in a drawer in a random room on the second floor. He was officially kicked out of the room he had shared with Weiss last night, but he wouldn't let that sour his mood.

All of the clothing he found were women's clothes, and fairly skimpy at that, but he managed to get his hands on a plain, long sleeve, blue, button up shirt. He left the top button open as he slipped it on, for style, obviously. Being marooned on an island was no excuse to look ragged! And, luckily, his old hoodie was survived by his jeans that were still holding strong. He gave himself an assured nod in a fancy full length mirror hanging off the closet door.

The doorbell rang through the house.

"Wah!" he heard Ruby cry out downstairs. "What was that!? Is the house haunted!? Is that why your sister didn't want it anymore?"

There was an audible face-palm.

"That's the doorbell, you dolt."

"It means someone's at the door, Ruby!" Jaune called out, adjusting his collar.

"Oh! I'll go see who it is!"

Jaune could basically feel the vibration of her heavy footsteps as she loudly ran to check. Carrying a big turtle shell around all the time didn't really make for much subtlety.

"_Heeeeey," _Ruby said, clearly suspicious of something. "You guys said there was supposed to be someone out here! Are you messing with me or something?... OooOOOooh! What's this?"

"What is it, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"I don't know but it looks fancy!"

Interest piqued, Jaune pulled his gaze away from the mirror to head downstairs.

Yang and Weiss were already surrounding Ruby on the steps outside the front door. Ruby was holding something, and Jaune had to step over and in between several zigzagging rows of Wyrm tail to get a closer look.

"It even has buttons on the sides!" Ruby noted. "Should I push one?"

"What are you guys looking at?" Jaune asked.

They all turned, save for a now-blushing Weiss who was averting her gaze, clearly still not over their morning mishap. Jaune himself would probably have been burning up as well if not for the sight of what was in Ruby's hands. His jaw dropped.

Ruby tilted her head at him.

"What do you think it is?"

"That's... That's my _phone_," he muttered incredulously.

Ruby tilted her head the other way and her brows met in curiosity.

"What's a phone?"

Not even hearing her question, he took the device and hit a button on the side. His eyes lit up along with the phone's familiar background picture of a particularly delicious soufflé he'd made one day in class.

"It's still got fifty percent battery!" But, a disturbing revelation immediately caught his focus. The date on the phone was not what he expected it to be.

The day that he last remembered, the day that he last fell asleep in his own bed, was a Wednesday night, and yet, his phone said it was currently Tuesday, almost an entire week later.

With severe eyes, he parsed through this new information.

If it was Tuesday, that would mean he had his run-in with Weiss on Monday, and woke up on the beach on Sunday when he met Ruby and Yang. But that would leave Thursday, Friday, and Saturday completely unaccounted for.

He'd been missing for even longer than he thought... almost a week… That would mean that he'd somehow missed his and his sister's shared twenty-first birthday on Friday, which he only just remembered about, what with all the insane things that had already happened to him.

But, where had those days gone? What happened to them? The transition between falling asleep in his bed and waking up on that beach was so seamless, that he hadn't even questioned what day it was.

He wondered what his family was thinking right now...

He focused back on the saving grace in his hands, but, unfortunately, no matter at what angle or how high he held it, he could find no signal at all.

Ruby quietly snickered to herself as Jaune moved it every which way.

"… What is he doing?"

Weiss hummed in contemplation.

"I think I've heard of these things before. They're Human magical devices that store information and hold a plethora of various uses while simultaneously allowing them the ability to communicate with others through their own instruments via some kind of mystical energy in the air."

"Woah…" Yang chimed in. "Human magic is _way_ cooler than dumb Elf magic."

"It is not!"

"OooOoh!" Ruby cooed. "So fancy!"

Jaune let out a groan, giving up on finding any signal.

"Ruby!" he said, grabbing her shoulders. "Where did you find this?"

Ruby shrunk in on herself a little, taken aback by Jaune's sudden intensity.

"Ah! I-I- it was sitting right here on the step, I swear!"

His head swiveled around, hastily scanning the yard and by the front gate before turning back to her.

"Did you see anyone?"

"N-No! No one! I'm sorry!"

He let go of her and made his way just outside of the fence onto the sidewalk.

"Is anyone there!?" he yelled into the light fog covering the otherwise empty street. "How did you know to leave this here?"

"Yo, you might want to chill, dude!" Yang called out. "I know there's not really many houses around, but a guy's voice might invite some unwanted attention, nomsayin?"

"Helloooo!?" he shouted again.

"Yeah, no, it's cool, just do what you want..." she mumbled to herself, throwing a hand up as she went back inside, and Weiss followed suit.

Jaune sighed, walking back with his eyes glued to his phone.

"… Why would someone just leave it here?"

With hands on her hips, Ruby scrutinized the device intensely.

"Maybe there's a clue in it?"

Jaune frowned as he dejectedly handed the phone over.

"You're welcome to look, but, without a signal, its basically useless…"

Ruby eyed the device curiously as Jaune trudged back inside, and she turned around.

"Don't worry, Jaune! I don't know what a signal is, but there's bound to be something in here! Just you wait!"

And Ruby tried to do so, spending the better part of an hour scouring the depths of his phone at the kitchen table as Jaune and Yang were in the middle of baking more cookies since Ruby had already eaten most of them.

It was fairly basic stuff, and Yang was getting the hang of it pretty quickly for someone who'd never made anything in a kitchen before.

"And so now – and this is the most important part, " Jaune was explaining to her before they were about to throw the tray of dough in the oven. "We add just a dash of something I like to call… _love_."

Yang's head pulled a small retreat, and she shot him a suspicious smirk.

"You fucking with me?"

Before he could open his mouth to respond, a familiar tune started blaring from the phone in Ruby's hands.

"Whoa, this thing plays music too!?" she said in awe. "Wait… what are they even saying?"

It wasn't his ringtone, but just a song she must've found in his library of music… and a slightly embarrassing one at that.

"It's in a different language," Jaune answered. "I don't really know what they're saying either, but it's catchy and really popular where I'm from."

"It _is_ catchy… _Des-pa-cito_," Ruby continued to hum the melody and bob her head to the beat as she studied the phone closer. "It's by... Luis Fonsi... Justin Bee...ber? And-" Ruby abruptly burst out into an unhinged chortle of laughter, holding her chest. "_Daddy Yankee!..._ What a funny name!"

Jaune and Yang shared an amused smile, and Jaune finished up putting the tray into the oven.

"Aww," Ruby swooned over his phone, apparently having already found something else of interest. "Yang, look at how cute Jaune and his sisters are together!"

Oh no, she'd found his pictures... Not that there was anything in there that was super embarrassing, but he could already imagine all of the teasing he'd soon be enduring for them.

"Let me see!"

Jaune rolled his eyes as Yang hurried over to her.

Standing behind Ruby, Yang would intermittently glance between the pictures and Jaune across the kitchen with an ear to ear grin.

"Weiss, come in here! Quick!" Yang called out, and Jaune facepalmed.

Jaune could hear Weiss sigh dramatically and get up off the couch in the living room. She walked in, setting her sword and a cleaning cloth on the counter.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"Come check out your in-laws!"

Weiss let out an inaudible grumble at the playful jab as she went to look.

"Eww!" Ruby cried, super grossed out. "Jaune's throwing up in this one!"

Jaune paused, and his forehead wrinkled as he tried to remember which picture she might be referring to, but nothing came to mind. Which, was definitely weird. He should remember anypicture of him puking, especially if it was in _his_ phone!

"Wait, let me see," he said, making his way behind them.

Peeking over their heads, he saw a photo matching her description.

His twin, Saphron, snapped the photo. It was a close-up selfie of herself laughing with Jaune in the background mid-vomiting over the rails of… a boat? In the middle of the ocean? It looked like a cruise ship by how much height they had over the water.

And yet, for the life of him, he couldn't recall this particular moment at all.

"Ruby," he started. "Hit the 'Options' button in the top right corner, then hit the 'Details' button."

"Right! Showing the deets!"

The timestamp revealed that the picture was very recent – As in, taken just the day before he woke up at the beach without a clue as to how he had gotten there.

Saturday... One of the missing days...

"Scroll through more photos, please," he asked, and Ruby peeked back at him with concern before swiping through them, stopping briefly on each one.

"Is everything okay, Jaune?"

All the recent ones looked like they were all from the same cruise ship, but…

None of them... Not a single recent one was sparking any amount of familiarity as he wracked his brain trying to pull any kind of a memory from it. None of the pictures of him eating ice cream in his pajama-onesies with a couple of his younger sisters. Not the candid one with his parents in their embarrassing tourist clothes. Not even the photos of him and Saphron apparently celebrating their shared twenty-first birthday with some adult beverages by the ship's pool at night.

A twinge of sadness pinched his heart at the sight of those last ones. Him and Saph had talked half-jokingly for years about what kind of alcohol fueled shenannigans they'd get caught up in on their big day. Apparently, going on a cruise that their parents must've surprised them with for it wasn't important or interesting enough for him to remember...

"I… don't remember any of these," he muttered sadly, shaking his head.

Ruby swiped one more time, leaving the last cruise ship picture behind and landing on a zoomed in shot of a bare, dark-skinned, well-endowed woman's chest.

They all gasped, and Jaune's eyes flew wide open for a short moment, before the pale palm of a hand slapped him across the face.

"Do you already have a girlfriend!?" Weiss demanded to know. "Do you know what would happen if Winter were to find out you've sullied the unity of our races?"

Jaune didn't need a reminder from her, as Kimmy's words from just the night before were still etched into his memory just fine.

_Betrayal of your marriage to the princess is punishable by death... Have a good night._

"Weiss, I swear I have no idea how that got there," Jaune claimed, rubbing his reddened cheek. He was almost certain it had nothing to do with him, because if he were to have gone on vacation with his entire family, he couldn't imagine there would be any spare time or privacy for any such... _encounter_ like this.

"Well, _obviously_, you had a little too much fun on your vacation!" Weiss argued.

"Ruby, can you show me the details of this one too?" Jaune asked, and she did as requested, giving an enthusiastic nod. "See?" he said, both happy and relieved that his theory was right. "This was one was taken only an hour ago."

Ruby skipped to the next one... and the next one... and the next one, all of them growing more and more explicit as each of their faces increased in redness (while Yang's grin grew wider), until, finally, a picture simply showed an address of a house written on a piece of paper.

"What the…?" Jaune said under his breath.

"Wait a minute," Weiss muttered in thought. "… I think I know where that street is... It's actually not all too far from here."

Jaune laid a gentle hand on her arm.

"Can you tell me how to get there?"

"I _can_," she responded, pulling away. "_Why_ do you want to know? To find this girl with the breasts?"

"Yes, but not for the reasons you're thinking..." Weiss merely shot a dubious glare his way, and Jaune sighed. "Listen, if there's _any_ chance this person might have more information as to why I'm here, I have to find out."

Ruby's gaze expressed concern.

"It could be a trap..."

"… Yeah," he agreed, brows lowering in thought. "Honestly, this does look pretty sketchy, so I'll understand if you guys don't want to-"

"I'm going!" Ruby happily interrupted.

"Yeah, Jaune," Yang added. "You know we've got your back like a butt crack!" Jaune tensed up as she appropriately gave him a stinging slap on the rear with her tail, and they looked to Weiss, waiting for her answer.

She turned her nose up.

"Well, if it _is_ a trap, you're going to need me to save you idiots when you fall right into it. Winter would be severely disappointed if my spouse were to expire after only a day."

Jaune's lips curled into a genuine smile as he rested his palm on her shoulder.

"Thanks, Weiss. I really do appreciate this."

She gawked at him for a second before shrugging him off and turning away with tinting cheeks.

"Tch… Whatever…"

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered, hopping out of her seat and throwing her arms around Jaune and an annoyed Weiss to pull them tight. "It's adventure time!"

* * *

"Uhh, Jaune...?" Ruby muttered, apparently having second thoughts. She lightly grabbed hold of his arm as her eyes were locked onto the house before them. "Are you sure this is the right address?"

"Yeah, Ruby," he regrettably answered, double-checking the photo before taking off his trench coat that Yang forced him to put on so he wouldn't be seen. "This is the one..." He handed the phone back to Ruby, and, to relax her nerves, she turned on her favorite song she'd found so far from his library of music, _Apple Bottom Jeans_.

They stood before a decrepit, old, yet large building located on the corner of a not so busy street, and Jaune wasn't sure what color it _used_ to be, but it was almost a blackish-gray color now due to the coating of grime. The windows looked hastily boarded up, and the place appeared to be something straight out of a horror movie.

Weiss sighed with a look of disgust.

"Are we really going inside?"

"Like I said," Jaune started. "You guys don't have to come in with me. You can still turn back."

And yet, Yang didn't hesitate. "Pfft, come on!" She threw a challenging, yet playful grin over her shoulder as she slithered towards the front door. "Last one in's a big, flappy pussy!"

Weiss groused as she let Yang take the lead.

"Can you _not_ be repulsive for even two minutes?"

Jaune let his gaze fall to the tense girl at his side. Compared to how excited Ruby was for 'adventure time' before they left the mansion, she was surprisingly hesitant now.

"You okay, Ruby?"

"... Yeah," she said, keeping hold of his arm as they began moving forward. "I just don't like ghosts..."

Jaune couldn't hold in his laugh, but tried to compose himself when Ruby shot an indignant pout up at him.

"Don't worry, Rubes!" Yang called out. "Me and Jaune will take care of any bitch-ass ghosts for ya!" She opened the door and snaked her way in.

Weiss shook her head as she followed.

"Of course you wouldn't knock first."

"If they didn't want me coming in, maybe they should've locked it!"

Jaune and Ruby made their way in as well, and Jaune could feel the crunching of little bits of broken glass beneath his shoes as he stepped in, as well as the small sloshing of some mud-like substance that covered the entire floor. He flipped a slimy light switch next to the entrance, but, fittingly, there was no response. It was dark, with only a few rays of sunlight peeking through the obstructed windows and open door, and it seemed like the building used to have been a big sit-down restaurant of some sorts.

There was a host stand at the front, a wrap-around bar further in to the right of it with a hallway filled with doors passed that, and two long rows of booths to the left that curved further into the back of the restaurant. Creepily enough, all of the tables were set up neatly and perfectly identical with plates, silverware, and napkins.

Weiss, who was making sure not to touch anything she deemed gross, was slowly walking around with a permanent scowl on her face, and her glowing, blue eyes that stood out in the dark. Yang, who was touching everything, poked her head in and out of every corner, under every table, trying to leave no space unchecked.

Jaune cleared his throat.

"Hello?" he called, but no one answered back.

A random gust of wind howled as it blew passed the building. Ruby gasped and spun her head, tightening her grip on Jaune.

"What was that wind-like sound!?"

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh from in the bar as Ruby kept jumping at every creak and bump in the darkness while they continued their search.

Remembering that these girls likely had a sense of hearing far superior to his own, Jaune was a little relieved they had wanted to assist. Still, even his Human ears were able to pick up on what sounded like some glass shattering somewhere in the back.

A scared squeak escaped Ruby.

"See!?" Ruby whisper-shouted. "Ghosts!"

He moved towards it to investigate, and Ruby pulled back. He turned to her and gave an earnest smile.

"It's okay, I'm just gonna check to see what that was. I promise I'll be careful."

She looked less than assured, but let go.

With another nod, he headed for the source of the sound, finding it at the end of the aisle when he stepped on it. From what he could see, it looked like a plate had somehow fallen off one of the tables, and there was a pocket-sized book with a pen in its place. Noticing its lack of dust compared to its immediate surroundings, he sat down and picked it up.

Instead of print, small, meticulous handwriting filled the first page he opened to, and it seemed to be some sort of a personal journal. Each page contained a different entry, but there were no dates on them.

"Ran away from home... hiding in an abandoned restaurant," he read to himself quietly, skimming through. "Talking to neighborhood cats..."

He flipped to the last page, where the ink appeared to be fairly fresh, and Yang approached him, tossing behind her some dirty server aprons that she'd found.

"What's that?"

"A diary I think," he said, turning another sheet of the book. "Every page is signed by someone called _'B.B.'"_

He unintentionally tuned out whatever Yang's response was as the last page caught his attention.

_Dear Diary,_

_Blake is tired, but writes anyway because something interesting has happened._

_A Nightmare came to the restaurant yesterday. She had some kind of an electronic with her. She didn't stay long. This normally wouldn't be significant enough to note, but the Nightmare returned again today. She is still here. Blake does not know what she wants or what she is looking for, but she seems to be waiting for someone, watching through the windows._

_Blake has not revealed her presence yet._

_Blake will write again soon with further developments,_

_ B.B._

"Whoa," Yang muttered, and blue eyes lifted to find purple looking at something behind him. Still sitting in the chair, Jaune swiveled his head to see.

A black cat with a white chest, tufts of white hair in its ears, and glowing amber eyes sat watching them, almost... glaring at them? It's tail wagged quickly like it was already annoyed.

"That cat's freaking me out," Yang muttered with a hand helping redirect sound to Jaune.

"It's just a cat, Yang," he dismissed, turning back around. "It probably lives here or something."

He was surprised to notice that, in the darkness, he'd somehow missed a lone, black scythe that had been left in the opposite booth of the table, the bladed edge now emitting a purple, pulsating light.

Laying his gaze on the weapon was almost like it somehow gave a relaxing, almost serene feeling throughout his mind, clearing it of everything else like it was unnecessary. And, with his eyelids getting a little heavy, any apprehension from being in this creepy place was vanishing.

He felt himself smile.

He knew the scythe wanted the touch of his fingers wrapped firmly around its handle. He knew it was calling his name as if from a lover's tongue. He knew it needed him.

And he needed it.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could register Yang waving a hand in front of his face and trying to talk to him, but the words seemed so far away… so distant...

His arm reached out, drifting towards the scythe like it had its own gravitational pull.

It was only the sound of Ruby's sudden, horrified screaming at the entrance that pulled him from his trance.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled and burst towards her sister with Jaune right behind her. They both raced down the aisle to find Ruby thrashing about on the floor in a panicked attempt to lift herself back up, but her heavy shell was keeping her stuck on her back. Weiss was standing off to the side, wide-eyed like she had no clue as to what was happening. She looked to them and gave a confused shrug.

"GET ME UP- GET ME UP- GET ME UP! I SAW A GHOST!"

Jaune and Yang quickly moved to either side of her, each lending a hand in pulling her up. Ruby immediately sprinted over passed the host stand, groping for the handle to the exit, but it was like she couldn't find it even though it was right in front of her. Instead, she settled for slamming her fists into the door.

"WHAT THE CRAP!? WHERE'D THE DOOR GO!?"

"Ruby, chill out!" Yang called after her. "It's right there!"

Ruby did not chill out. Instead, she took off with impressive speed towards the back of the restaurant.

"WE'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Ruby!"

She rounded a corner leading into a hallway, and Yang hastily gave chase. Both of them disappeared from Jaune and Weiss's sight, leaving them dumbfounded.

"Is... Is she blind or something?" Weiss said incredulously. "It was literally right in front of her."

"… I don't know." Jaune stepped over to the door and ran his hands along it, scanning it as if it would yield any answers. "There's no way she could've missed it... Maybe all this _is _a trap."

That worry coming to fruition, and his friends walking right into it, was like a sack of potatoes being dropped on his chest.

"Could be some kind of devious magic," Weiss suggested. "We would just have to find the caster and dispatch of them before they have the chance to play any more tricks."

Jaune turned back to her.

"You make it sound like it'll be easy."

An amused laugh escaped her.

"Please-" She held a hand up to nonchalantly summon a spinning, spiky shard of ice. "I can take anything this place throws at me."

As comforting as it was to have Weiss and her confidence at his side, he wasn't letting his guard down even for a moment. He'd been almost-killed way too many times in too short of a time span for that.

"Come on. Let's go make sure they're okay," he said and started down the path that Ruby had fled.

They made their way into the long hallway in the back with a slew of doors along its grimy walls.

He wouldn't have noticed it sitting on the floor directly in their way, but they jumped back as the hissing of that same black cat startled them. With its tail fluffed up, it let out a low, threatening rumble, growling something fierce at Weiss while apparently uninterested in Jaune's presence entirely.

Jaune made sure to take a wide step around the agitated feline, and he looked back to see that Weiss hadn't moved an inch. He arched a questioning brow at her. She shook her head.

"I'm not going anywhere near that thing," she told him.

He smirked for a second before tapping a finger to his chin in feigned contemplation.

"Hmm, now, what were those last words you said to me again? Let me think… - Oh, yes, '_I can take anything this place throws at me_,'" he parroted in a high, mocking voice. "But I guess you've just finally met your match, huh?"

Narrowed, blue eyes pierced through the dark at him, and he could just barely see her fists clenching.

"You idiotic- ...! Just distract it or something!... I don't want to have to hurt a cat!"

Jaune sighed, because_ he _certainly didn't want to get any closer to it than he had to, but he absolutely wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

He bent his knees, carefully making a noise halfway between a clicking and a sucking sound from between his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

The cat's growling tapered, and it pulled its angry gaze away from Weiss to curiously peer over to him.

"Hey little buddy," he spoke softly. "What are you doing in this spooky place all by yourself? Don't you have an owner?" The puffed up hair on its back and tail was starting to return to normal. He was kind of amazed at how well this idea was already working. "That's it, that's right, keep looking over here so Weiss can get by because she's scared of a cute, little kitten."

"That is _not_ a kitten," she quietly shot as she stalked along the other side of the aisle, but Jaune wasn't prepared for when the animal abruptly approached him.

The cat lovingly and repeatedly brushed its face across Jaune's knee as if it had entirely forgotten about its dislike for Weiss's existence. With a hint of caution, he began petting its head and brushing behind its ears, and, to Jaune's surprise, it leaned forward, embracing the touch and giving him better access for more efficient scratches.

Jaune's nerves calmed instantly.

"Aww, don't worry. The big, bad, evil Weiss can't get you now. I'll protect you."

He couldn't resist turning his sly gaze over his shoulder towards the now-safe Weiss, unable to hide his smirk upon seeing the annoyed expression on her face.

"… Are you done?"

"Yes, I'm done." He put away his smile and stood, much to the cat's apparent dismay as it reached out to him with a paw, which was way too adorable. As he walked away with Weiss, he couldn't take his eyes off the cat. Something about the way that it watched him leave was odd, but he couldn't quite understand why. He was pretty sure he'd never seen a cat make such a personified expression before. Was it actually frowning? Was there a glint of worry in its eyes...?

He forced his gaze forward and shook the weird thought from his mind, because it was definitely weird, right? He was starting to freak himself out, and there was no time for distractions. He needed to focus!

Weiss stopped next to the first door in the hallway, stepping aside for Jaune to open it, and, before he could even put his hand on the doorknob to pull, he paused when he discerned a sound rapidly growing in volume from behind it.

"…Ruby?"

The door was thrown open from the other side, hitting him in his still-kind-of black eye, and a panicking Ruby came running out. She crashed into Jaune with a pained grunt, knocking them both to the ground. Unfortunately for Ruby, she fell onto her shell and slid a ways, somehow activating a trap door hidden in the floor and plunging into the newly opened hole as her falling cry faded from earshot.

Nonplussed, Jaune stared at the opening in the floor, his brain unable to process that his friend had just disappeared into it.

But that couldn't have just happened... It didn't...

But he saw it...

The danger was all too real to him now. Someone had led him here, prevented their exit with magic, and even orchestrated traps for them. The danger was indeed real, but he was realizing it far too late, as now Ruby had fallen victim on his behalf.

He should never have let them put themselves at risk.

Yang poked her head out of the open door, purple eyes skipping over Jaune and Weiss as she hurriedly scanned the hallway. Unable to find what she was looking for, she forcibly grabbed and lifted Jaune to his feet by his collar.

"Where'd she go!?" she managed to yell while out of breath. With regret in his eyes, he met her gaze.

"I… I'm sorry…"

"What?" She lifted him up even further, shoving him against the wall. "C'mon, dickhead! Spit it out!"

He tentatively raised a pointing finger.

"… She fell in there…"

She peeked over her shoulder, and Jaune was able to catch himself when Yang let go of him to look down the hole.

"I'm going in after her!"

_That_ finally broke Jaune from his stupor, because that was an _awful _idea.

"What? Yang, wait!" She didn't though, instead sliding the length of her tail into the hole and scooting close so that her rear rested on the edge. Jaune had to hurry over and grab her shoulder to stop her from taking the fall. "Yang, think about this before you go down there-"

She pushed his hand away and glared up at him with those familiar red eyes.

"I am NOT leaving without Ruby!"

"That's _not_ what I'm suggesting!" he countered as he moved to kneel in front of her from the other side of the trap door. "Listen, someone set all this up specifically for us, and we're gonna need your help to find Ruby, but, if you go down straight where they want you, you might as well be throwing away our best chance at getting her back."

She watched him for a moment, hopefully seeing the genuine concern in him, hopefully hearing it in his pleads. Her glaring eyes began the transition back to purple as they drifted downwards.

"... Please, Yang," he begged, and she looked back up to him.

"... Fuck that."

She pushed off the edge and threw herself down the hatch.

"Yang – No!" He jumped forwards, instinctively reaching out and almost falling in himself. "Damn it!" Another one of his friends, probably the most valuable one in this situation, was now possibly in the clutches of whoever organized this whole scheme, and it was his fault. His fist slammed into the ground as he cursed himself again for bringing them here. "Fuck!… ...What are we gonna do now?"

"We could just leave," his only remaining friend impassively suggested.

"_Weiss!" _he stood and chided angrily, and she crossed her arms defensively.

"Well don't ask for my opinion if you're just going to yell!"

He grit his teeth and bit back his words, knowing it wouldn't help to keep going. He sighed and closed his eyes, expelling a stressed breath. If he was going to come up with a plan, he needed to be calm and thinking straight.

Though it looked more like a scowl, he returned his thoughtful gaze to the trap door.

"... If this trap goes down... that means there must be a basement that it leads to or something."

"So, what you're saying is, we should just keep looking... Brilliant," she mocked as she entered the room through the open door, rolling her eyes all the while. At least, he was pretty sure she was rolling her eyes. He was getting better at reading them, as the brightest part of her eyes seemed to be the center, where the pupil would normally be, and got progressively darker towards the edges.

They did indeed keep looking, going through the rooms one by one trying to locate the theorized basement or cellar.

There didn't seem to be much of interest, mostly just empty rooms that were likely intended for private parties, until Jaune noticed that the next door he was about to check had a small diamond-shaped window embedded in it. He peered through the glass.

A tingle shot through his body, forking out like lightning, and his fingers almost went numb.

What he saw stunned him beyond any ability to react, his mouth hanging agape.

It was another party room like the others, except it was well lit and completely free of any of the grime that infested the rest of the building like a plague.

And his parents were in there… just sitting at the table eating something that Jaune didn't have enough focus to pay any attention to.

And not only were his parents there, but his sister, Saphron, sat across from them, and they were all wearing the same touristy clothes they had on in the pictures Ruby found.

How in the world was this possible? Why were they _here_ of all places?

Jaune looked on as they were all happily engaged in conversation with each other and seemingly unconcerned with anything else.

Having to remind himself to breathe, he sucked in a breath of air and placed a shaky hand on the handle.

… It was locked.

Following a small glare at the stupid doorknob, he peered through the window again and gave an awkward, polite knock. They heard it and turned to meet his eyes with pleasantly surprised gazes, which filled his chest with an incredible warmth. Saphron excitedly popped up from her seat, and Jaune could read her lips as she spoke.

_I got it!_

Jaune wiped sweat from his forehead, and he was barely aware of his heart slamming as his sister moved to let him in. He didn't even try to hide the giddiness in his grin slowly creeping across his face. Not only could he finally get some answers to where he was, why he was here, and just what the hell was happening, but even just seeing them all sated a homesickness he'd been feeling.

Saphron fiddled with the lock for a moment, but her brows met in confusion when she pulled yet it did not open.

She wore an embarrassed smile at her continued struggle and tried saying something to him, probably something apologetic, but he wasn't able to make out the muffled words.

"It's okay," he found himself saying anyway with a quiet laugh, even though he knew she couldn't hear. He waited patiently, one of his legs bouncing in anticipation of finally being reunited with his family again, until he caught something happening in the corner of the room close to where his parents were sitting, something he could barely comprehend.

It was almost like the light was being sucked into nothing, like a shadow was enveloping the small area, but no one else was noticing it.

He couldn't tell exactly when she got there, but there was a silhouette of a girl standing in the room with them in the aura of darkness. It was difficult to make out her features, but he could definitely see her narrowed, bright red eyes shining through and staring at his family.

His heart almost shot out of his chest at the sight of small, bloodied, curved blades in each hand. With the color draining from his face, he couldn't get the words out as quick as he'd wanted, and the red-eyed, green and bob-haired girl stepped forward, revealing her transparent, shadowy, Human-like body.

"… B-behind you!"

Saphron peered up from the handle at him, startled, and, again, Jaune read her lips.

_What?_

How was she not able to hear him?

"Behind you, Saph! Look behind you!" he pleaded louder as he started trying to ram the door with his shoulder, and, while it rattled in place, it did not give.

The shadowy girl approached behind Jaune's unsuspecting parents, her menacing gaze leveled on them, and Jaune could only watch as she raised her weapons to drive them straight into and through each of their backs.

"NOOOOO!" his voice rang out, cracking heavily. "MOVE!"

With terror on her face and somehow still unaware of what was happening, Saphron did as commanded, quickly stepping back as Jaune delivered a series of heavy kicks to the door.

He was acting on instinct now. It didn't matter that he had no weapon. It didn't matter that he had no means to defend himself with. The only thing that mattered was him opening this damn door right now. Adrenaline alone would have to be enough to keep him and his sister safe, and hopefully get some help for his parents.

The weapons were pulled out from his parents' backs with agony clear on their faces, and the shadow girl began making her way towards Saphron.

Jaune quickened his kicks, and, with one final thrust, the door finally gave in, swinging open and slamming into the wall. He rushed inside to find… nothing.

There wasn't anything in there. His parents weren't there. His sister wasn't there. His dilated eyes hurriedly scanned the room. No blood. No lights… Only the same grime-infested table, chairs, and floor like all the other rooms before. The small window on the door wasn't even there anymore.

"… Wha- … What…?"

Was this all just more magic? Had he been fooled like Ruby was earlier? Did this mean that his family was actually safe? Or were those events that had already transpired at some point?

No, of course none of that was real. Why would they even have been here in the first place and acting so nonchalantly about it? How could he have been dumb enough to fall for that?

Even still, he felt dizzy. He wanted to throw up.

The image of that blade stabbing through his parents kept replaying in his head over and over again. The red-stained edge of the blades jutting out from their chests… The dramatic spraying of blood onto the table… And his sister almost met the same fate.

He backed out of the room and reached for Weiss's shoulder. Whether he was searching for something to ground his fleeting sanity, or he just needed support to keep his shaky legs underneath him, he wasn't sure. Unfortunately, he would find neither when his hand somehow slipped through Weiss, and he just barely managed to keep himself from stumbling over.

His eyes locked onto her shoulder, staring at it with bewilderment. His fingers cautiously tried to graze her again, but it only yielded the same results. There was no contact with the cold skin he'd felt earlier that day. His hand would phase right into her like she had no physical presence at all… like she wasn't even there.

"Weiss…?" he faltered, meeting her indistinct look she was giving. And then, she too began to disappear before him. "… Weiss!?" He attempted another panicked grab for her arm, but there was nothing with substance to take hold of.

In the final seconds before her image completely dissipated, Jaune caught an absolutely smug, wicked grin on her face.

And then she was gone. Vanished right in front of him. And his mind was struggling to comprehend.

"… What…? Where did- … Weiss?"

He groped at the air where she had just been standing.

Empty.

He was alone.

Apparently he had been the entire time.

When did the real Weiss disappear? How long had this one been an illusion? Was there ever even a _real_ Weiss to begin with?

No- of course there was! There's no way he imagined everything! Or that her entire existence was a ploy... Right? Could Ruby and Yang have been fake too?

His mouth was dry. He swallowed hard as his hands covered his face. This was not a path he wanted his mind to go down, as he could feel his grip on reality weakening.

Were the walls closing in? Was he having an anxiety attack? Or just another illusion?

His teeth were grinding with such force that his jaw was beginning to ache.

He slammed his eyes shut. When had he started hyperventilating?

"S-Start from ten, count backwards, and ta-take big breaths," he sputtered out. "Ten... nine... eight... seven-"

The hairs on the back of his neck bristled, he got goosebumps, and the heavy feeling of there being another presence nearby crept over him. It felt like it might've even been watching him, but it was so intense to the point where it _couldn't_ be true. And yet, the feeling was somewhat soothing.

He looked behind him to the end of the hallway.

It was that cat staring at him again… just sitting there in front of one of the poorly boarded up windows. Except, it almost seemed like it was communicating with him, but he really didn't understand how. Because it was just sitting still! And yet, he suddenly felt like it wanted him to follow it, almost like the pull that scythe briefly had on him.

Without another second, the cat turned and walked towards, and _through_, the door nearest to it.

Jaune didn't even flinch. At this point, a cat casually phasing through solid mass was nothing short of an average day's event.

And so he started to follow, and, with the adrenaline exiting his system, he was slowly becoming aware of the growing pain pulsing throughout his leg with the slamming beat of his heart. He hoped it wasn't broken or something from kicking that door in, but that was one of his less important problems right now.

Quietly poking his head into this new room, a damp, stale air filled his nose, and an intimidating, enclosed set of stairs lay before him descending into pitch black.

This was the basement he'd been looking for... That cat really did lead him here, but for as much calming the cat did for his nerves, they were already flaring up again. Even still, he swallowed his reluctance and began to limp down, grabbing hold of the dirty handrail while trying not to slip on the sludge.

He could hear a muddled groaning from down there, though he couldn't tell whose voice it was. Closing the door behind him, he made quick steps until he was midway down, and he peeked his head into the space where the basement opened up and he could see.

The place was strewn with clutter. Old, empty boxes, worn palettes for storage, racks of forlorn, unopened bottles of wine, and beaten up, abandoned appliances filled the room, except for a small corner where everything had been moved aside to make space for his tied up friends.

Jaune gasped silently.

Next to a little lamp, Yang, Weiss, and Ruby all sat on the ground with some kind of spiked collar wrapped around their necks and connected to the wall. Their hands and feet were tied with rope, save for Weiss, who had some glowing shackles around her wrists, and Yang, whose tail was locked down with a giant, leather clamp. Each of them were gagged with what looked like duct tape.

It was like an old wine cellar turned sex dungeon or something!

But, aside from their captive states and Weiss's incredibly pissed off expression, they looked unharmed, which Jaune was incredibly thankful for. He was especially thankful for the sight of Weiss, which helped to solidify the fact that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination, something he didn't even realize he needed until now.

Before he could even think about helping them though, the door behind him creaked back open. He moved quickly and quietly down the rest of the stairs, ducking behind some chairs that had been stacked upon each other. It wasn't the greatest hiding spot, but he was here now, and it would just have to work.

He held his breath as the rhythmic taps of high heels worked their way down and passed.

It was that girl from his vision again, the one who attacked his parents. Although, she looked less ghost-like and completely Human now. Still, she had her weapons with her. Though they were sheathed for now, he was likely going to have to approach this situation delicately and wait for some kind of opening.

Ruby watched her carefully, Yang eyed her up and down, while Weiss squirmed, making angry sounds behind the tape, likely some colorful profanities.

The mysterious girl studied them until her gaze settled on Yang. She ripped the tape off her mouth, and Yang grimaced before issuing a challenging smirk up at her.

"You must be Emerald," Yang started, giving her a once-over. "Usually I'd want to get to know someone before I let them tie me up in their basement, but, for you, I'll make a big exception." She winked. Obviously unamused, the girl cocked her arm back and delivered a painful looking backhand. Ruby's muffled, worried cries filled the room as she flailed at the sight, yet Yang seemed unfazed, stretching her jaw a bit with an unwavering smile and blowing the hair out of her face. "I can tell things are gonna get pretty spicy. My safe words are either 'help,' 'no, no, no, take it out,' or 'oh god, please stop, you're literally killing me.'"

Another stinging, louder backhand.

Jaune flinched and sighed at Yang's apparent desire to piss off her captor.

"Do whatever you want," Yang continued and spit on the ground. "We're not gonna tell you where Jaune is."

"That your Human friend?" Emerald sneered. "What makes you think I want him?"

"What? You're the one who lured him here with his magical phone thing. Not to mention, everyone seems to want to kill him lately… or rape him."

"I only brought him here cause I knew you'd follow."

A look of surprise flashed across Yang's face before hiding it behind an innocent smile.

"And what could you want with little, old me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

Her answer was a third backhand.

"You're the one who hurt Cinder," Emerald told her, shaking her hand out, and then she took a step towards Weiss. "And now, you're going to watch your friends suffer for it."

Jaune couldn't sit here and wait for an opportunity any longer, he was going to have to make one himself. He began crawling across the grimy ground and searching his immediate surroundings for any kind of weapon or something he could use for a distraction.

He carefully pulled open a lone file cabinet…

But, nothing.

He slowly opened a closet door…

Only a mop, broom, and dustpan.

Weiss's angry groans could be heard from the other side of the room, and Jaune knew he really had to hurry.

The light bouncing off of something under a table caught his eye, and he leaned further down to look.

A crowbar! There was a lucky crowbar sitting underneath it, which didn't seem like much versus a bladed weapon, but it'd have to do.

Taking it by the handle and rising to his feet, he turned his focus back to his friends, but the sight utterly floored him.

Emerald had somehow removed one of Weiss's breast plating, and it looked like she was… fondling her?… While nibbling on her earlobe…? What in the world was happening?

Was this supposed to be a form of torture for Yang or Weiss? What the hell was with this island and sexual assault?

Weiss's face was a pure cherry red as she squirmed to move away from the touch.

The amused expression was gone from Yang's face too, replaced with an absolutely mesmerized stare.

"That… is the most _distracting_ thing… I have ever seen," she mumbled, and Emerald shot her a mocking smirk.

"How does it feel to know that your friends are suffering because of you? To know the pain you've caused others is coming back to haunt you? Is the guilt tormenting? Is your entire being heavy with regret?"

"... Not really," Yang answered, still gawking. "That's just my friend's hot wife... If anything, I'm really turned on right now."

Emerald's smirk disappeared.

"… What?"

"Yeah, like… I'm so turned on, I could power a small village…"

Emerald stared at Yang incredulously, and Weiss somehow managed to get the tape halfway off her mouth.

"How _DARE_ you treat me like this!" Weiss screamed in Emerald's face. "Do you have any idea who I am!? When the Ice Kingdom finds out about this, an entire army is going to come down on you for what you've done, and I will _personally_ make sure that your head is skewered on a pike, and fed to the-"

The tape was promptly replaced, much to Weiss's chagrin, and Emerald turned her predatory sights on Ruby.

"Then let's see how much you care about this one."

Yang's suddenly red eyes were clearly showing just how much humor she was finding anymore.

"You touch her, you're fucking dead!" she warned.

"She won't get the chance," Jaune said from behind, catching Emerald off guard.

Cementing his feet firmly to the ground, he wound up and threw a big, arcing swing that connected to the side of Emerald's head. He didn't want to kill her, so he didn't put all his strength into it, but he didn't want to leave any chance for retaliation.

What he wasn't expecting was to be feeling like he'd just basically taken a swing at a brick wall. The crowbar vibrated painfully in his hands with counter-force, and it fell to the floor with a bouncing clang.

The girl reeled a bit, but didn't even lose her footing. Jaune watched in pain and disbelief as she turned her furious leer to him. In a single, fluid motion, she took one grounding step forward and thrust the heel of her hand to the middle of his chest in a punishing blow.

He was thrown backwards onto and over a table, knocking off several pots and pans. Gasping for the air that'd been knocked out of him, his hand searched for something to grab onto as he staggered to his feet.

What kind of literal monster was this girl? She should've been on the ground knocked out cold from that hit _at the very least!_ And how was she able to pack all the power into a single strike?

Emerald snatched the wrist of his searching hand, twisting it while kicking his shin out from under him, dropping him back down to his knees in pain. He looked up at her into those eyes scalding with fury.

"Now you understand," she derided him as a drop of blood fell from her chin onto his face. Her hand reached for her blade, and her lips curled upwards as she brought the sharp edge to his neck. "Humans are such an inferior race. You may have your Human Spirit, but most of you are too simple to have any sense of it... Consider this a mercy killing…"

Jaune's gaze fluttered over to his friends who were watching helplessly at his imminent demise.

Yang's and Ruby's eyes were filled with horror, and even Weiss's seemed to hold a surprising amount of worry for him.

He wasn't able to save them. He didn't have the strength necessary. He had failed all of them, and, with the blade pushing against his windpipe, he couldn't tell them he was sorry like he wanted. He would never even be able to find out if his family was safe.

Jaune closed his eyes and bit his lip, waiting for the bitter end.

He felt the weapon retreat from his skin, and the grip on his wrist disappeared.

He opened his eyes again to see that Emerald had dropped one of her weapons and was now wrestling with… _something_ on top of her head. She was screaming out a flurry of expletives as she flailed.

"Ah, ow! FUUUUUUUUCK! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Stop, get off, get off!"

Finally, she grabbed hold and tossed the thing to the ground, which landed on its feet, hissing and growling at her.

It was the cat once more, the same one that helped him find his friends, the same one who might've been trying to warn him about Weiss being an illusion earlier... It had saved him.

Except, now it was doing something he'd never seen a cat do before. It was almost like it was melting into a black blob, losing the shape of its mass, but growing in size. It was actually quite disturbing to watch from the look on Jaune's face, and yet he couldn't tear his gaze away.

The formless blob finally started to take on a more recognizable figure... The figure of a Human... well, mostly Human if Jaune were to disregard the set of cat ears on top of her head of black hair, and a very fuzzy tail bristled for intimidation.

She was beautiful, almost impossibly so, and her feline features were oddly adorable, especially the tufts of white fur poking out of those ears. She wore a black blindfold, and yet those amber, slitted eyes somehow still clearly shined through it. There was an odd, dark mist emanating from her body. But, what was really catching his eyes, was the way the black, skintight mermaid dress clung to her curvy body, along with the _generous_ amount of under-cleavage on display from the oval shaped cut-out in the chest, and the other oval cut-outs on each side from the top of her hips to the bottom of her waist, showing off her incredible figure.

She held that deathly scythe from earlier, poised to strike.

"Blake does not want anyone to perish here today!" the girl declared. "The evil Nightmare will leave! Right now!"

Emerald looked possessed with rage, clenching her fists so tight the veins in her arms were showing, and her face was covered with claw marks and her own smeared blood.

"No… No- no- no! This isn't how it was supposed to go!" Emerald shrieked. "She was supposed to suffer for what she did! She was supposed to die!" Her hand began to creep towards the hilt of her other sword. "I wanted to start out small… but this'll have to do."

Unsheathing her weapon, she zipped to Yang in a flash. The cat-like girl rushed over with her quick reflexes, but Emerald was already slicing her blade downwards through the air, as well as through a large segment of Yang's tail, severing it from the rest of her body.

And there was that sinking feeling in his chest again. That feeling like his heart had been ripped out and plunged into ice water. He was surprised at how much it hurt him, almost as much as when he saw his family attacked.

He hadn't even realized how much he cared about Yang. Of course they'd had their differences, their spats, but maybe, even in such a short time, having been through hell together was enough to bring them so close.

He cared about all of them. They were all he had right now.

And now, as Yang spit out every curse word she could think of in pain, as the detached part of her tail wriggled on the ground in a small pool of blood, as Ruby screamed behind her tape and Weiss sat watching on in shock a little paler than usual, Jaune was seeing red.

The cat-girl had run shoulder-first, ramming and shoving a very satisfied Emerald to the side away from Yang. Emerald almost tripped backwards over Weiss, who took advantage of her off-balance and kicked the back of her knee with her wedge heel, knocking one out from under her.

Jaune sprinted forward, snatching up Emerald's first dropped sword, and lunged at her. She hardly saw it coming, the edge aimed at her heart. Raising her second blade, she deflected the attack, but not completely quick enough. Her own steel sunk into her shoulder, through it, and into the wall behind.

Jaune didn't stop there.

His arm, his hand was moving on its own, throwing a flurry of rage-induced strikes he couldn't stop. He couldn't hear anything, nor could he see anything other than her.

It didn't matter if the blood on his knuckles was hers or his own. It didn't matter if he was probably doing more damage to his fist than her face. It didn't matter that someone was pulling back on him. Emerald was going to pay.

The person behind him continued to pull, and he shoved backwards to try to get his arm free. His elbow connected with something hard, and he looked, doing a double-take to find Ruby lying on her back, covering an eye and looking up at him.

"Ruby…?"

All the rage drained from his heart, replaced entirely with a heavy, cold weight. That couldn't have just happened the way he thought it did... No, not to Ruby of all people…

"What the fuck, Jaune!?" Yang yelled, holding up the detached segment of her tail casually. "My tail'll grow back, you dillweed! If I wasn't so fucked up right now, I'd fuck your shit up for that! Help her up!"

"… R-Ruby… I..." He quickly let go of Emerald to hold out his non-bloodied hand to help her up, perhaps a little too quickly, and she flinched away, reflexively ducking her head and limbs inside her carapace. "No, no, no, Ruby, I'm sorry!" He kneeled at her side, intuitively brushing the side of her shell and avoiding touching the front of it again. "Please, come out, I… I didn't mean it! I-I just- I'm so sorry!"

He didn't want to think about how it looked from her point of view. He had been wailing on Emerald without mercy, and Ruby was probably just trying to calm him down. He felt like a figurative monster.

After a few seconds, she timidly poked her head out enough to meet his regretful gaze.

He held his palm out again, slower this time. Finally accepting his help, she was lifted to her feet, and she quickly took her hand back.

"Are you okay?"

"… I-… I'm okay," she said quietly, her averted eyes completely betraying her words. Jaune's heart was breaking. He wanted to do something. Hug her. Hold her hand. Brush the eye he'd hit, but he was worried he might startle her again, as she was already on edge. He easily would've given anything in the world at that moment for another one of her radiant smiles.

Weiss, now happily wearing all her armor again and freed from her bonds thanks to the cat-girl, cleared her throat.

"I don't mean to downplay the significance of your abuse issues here, they're_ truly shameful_, but we've still got to figure out what to do with this one," she said, throwing a thumb back at Emerald who was still pinned to the wall.

Her face was a mess of blood, and Jaune was beginning to feel a little sick looking at what he'd done, though Emerald seemed more stunned by Yang's regrowth ability.

"It… grows… back?" she asked.

"Yep!" Yang answered with a grin, and began to imitate some kind of a customer support voice, "Sorry that you went through all this trouble for absolutely nothing! But we hope you enjoyed the complimentary beatings! Have a great night!_ Gooooo fuck yourself_!"

Jaune was in no mood for jokes as they all moved to stand before Emerald. He couldn't help but notice the little bit of distance Ruby was keeping from him, which was a far cry from her normal spot so close to his side that he could feel her warmth, a warmth he found himself missing. Possibly sensing his watch, she tried sneaking a wary side-glance, but she nervously turned away upon meeting his eyes.

"She is a Nightmare," the cat-girl began explaining in a quiet, flat voice. "One of the few of her kind left, if not the last. Incredibly strong, and able to build illusions in the mind so long as her physical body remains unseen."

"I don't care what she is," Weiss said, lifting Emerald's chin with the tip of her sword. "I told you you'd be sorry for what you did to me."

Her sword was knocked aside, however, by the cat-girl's scythe.

"_No one_ will die here today."

Surprisingly, even though Weiss had just looked more than eager to bring absolute ruin to Emerald's life, she didn't put up a fight about it. Instead, as she and the cat-girl glared each other down, she cautiously stepped backwards, bumping into Jaune, then she sort of... inched around and behind him... almost like a nervous puppy.

Cat-girl bent down and not so gently ripped the sword out of Emerald's shoulder.

Emerald let out a bawl of pain, but was able to gather herself and her weapons.

"Go," the cat-girl commanded.

With a look of surprise, Emerald studied them all for a moment, and pulled herself to her feet to start moving for the stairs.

Weiss let out an incredulous huff and gripped her sword tighter.

"We're just letting her leave!?"

Cat-girl held her weapon out, blocking the path to Emerald.

"_No one _will_-_"

"-_die today_ \- Yeah, yeah," Weiss grumbled, rolling her glowing eyes and crossing her arms. "We get it."

Emerald gripped the handrail and took heavy, tired steps upstairs, but a question from Ruby halted her before reaching the door.

"What did you do with Jaune's family?"

Emerald seemed to be about to leave without giving an answer, but she ultimately did.

"I didn't do anything. I simply found the phone on the beach among the other wreckage."

"Wreckage?" Jaune muttered, his brows meeting. "Wreckage from what?"

Emerald's gaze landed on him, sharpening before she turned around again, making her exit.

"See?" Weiss grouched at the cat-girl, throwing a hand up in frustration. "We could've gotten more information out of that cretin if you didn't let her go!"

The cat-girl looked to Jaune.

"Jaune," she said, beginning to walk towards him.

"Oh, I'm being ignored," Weiss muttered, rolling her eyes. "Lovely."

As she got closer, Jaune's eyes darted between his friends and the girl.

There was something about the way that this girl walked that didn't look like actual _walking_... It was like there was no movement at all below her waist. It was almost like... she was _floating_ towards him, which was nerve-wracking in itself.

"Blake is drawn to Jaune because of Jaune's abundant Spirit energy," she told him.

Jaune wore a frown.

"My, uhh… what? And who's Blake?"

"Blake is Blake."

"Uhh, th-then… who are you?"

"Blake."

"… _Your_ name is Blake…?"

"Yes."

Jaune cocked a brow.

"Are you referring to yourself in the third person?"

Blake tilted her head in that same confused, Ruby-esque way, yet her expression still did not stray from a half-lidded, completely neutral stare.

"There are not three Blakes. There is no other Blake. Blake is the only Blake here."

Jaune returned a blank stare of his own.

"No, I mean- … Never mind…"

Blake's unnerving gaze turned downwards.

"These fingers," she said as she gently grabbed his hand and started brushing each of them tenderly. Jaune watched her do so, noticing just how wonderfully soft her skin was. "Jaune almost touched my scythe with them," Blake commented, her tone becoming a tad more serious which set Jaune even more on edge.

"Oh, umm… I just- it started glowing, and-"

"_Never _touch my scythe." Blake gripped a little tighter.

"Okay, okay! No problem!" His own voice may have gone up an octave or two as he shrunk in on himself.

Blake's hold and posture relaxed again, and her blissful gaze returned to their hands.

"Jaune also touched my ears with them."

Yang gave an overly dramatic gasp, covering her blooming grin.

"… What?" Jaune muttered nervously. It took a second, but he remembered having to create a distraction for Weiss by petting the cat… or, apparently Blake, which Jaune didn't know if such an act was considered offensive or inappropriate. "Oh, I- well that was… Look, I'm really, really sorry-"

"It's okay," she told him softly. She brought his hand up, guiding it to cup one of her feline ears and resting her palm over the back of his. "Because Blake loves Jaune too."

Jaune's eyes almost popped out of his head, and his whole body went rigid, but she flicked the ear and pushed her head further into the contact.

What was she doing?

This couldn't be what he thought it was, right?

Could she really be asking for… _that_?

There was something he didn't like about the idea of petting a Monster girl as if she was a house cat. It just seemed so dehumanizing… But then again, it's not like she was Human in the first place.

Even still, Blake didn't seem to be giving him much of a choice.

Slowly, and against his better judgement, he started moving his fingers along the surprisingly fluffy fur at the base, working his way up and down from the tip, and combining a mix of tender massages with light scratches like he would for any other cat.

Not that she was an actual cat, he reminded himself. That was definitely not what he was thinking!

Either way, Blake absolutely melted into his touch as her eyes fluttered closed. The beginnings of a peaceful smile was etching itself onto her lips, and she looked like she was departing to another world.

When and how did this horrifying girl become so adorable? Even though every corner of his brain was screaming _RUN, _he was loving everything about this – The feel of the soft fur, the look of absolute euphoria on her face, the way she looked like she was about to fall asleep standing up, and… why was he still doing this?

He was about to stop himself, when Blake grabbed Jaune's other hand, wasting no time in moving it to her second ear for extra ministrations.

In her seemingly almost comatose state, she moved forward, letting her forehead rest flat on Jaune's chest, and he immediately discerned small vibrations rumbling off of her. Was that… purring?

… It was purring.

She was totally purring.

Jaune's face was warming up. He could feel Blake's hot, quickening breaths flowing through the front of his shirt. Her hands wrapped around him, and she pulled him closer as what felt like claws started kneading gently into his back. It kind of hurt, but it was also kind of fine.

Why was Jaune enjoying this so much? He couldn't tell if Blake was falling asleep, or getting worked up from this, but Jaune's pulse was definitely accelerating. This seemed like such an incredibly intimate act, only to be shared between two people who trusted each other. Possibly even lovers! And yet, here he was, his blood getting hotter by the second as he continued to touch this mysterious girl.

He was pretty sure he needed to stop, but he was even more sure he didn't want to... It was intoxicating.

Finally, a sign of life showed from her as she raised her unfocused gaze to him.

Her lips parted.

"Blake wants these same fingers inside of me," she whispered.

He reflexively jumped backwards and yanked his hands away like they'd somehow been violated.

"Whoa! Okay! Umm! I just, uhh – listen, Blake-"

Yang snorted.

"What's the matter, Jaune? Cat got your tongue?"

After shooting her a sidelong glare, he refocused on Blake.

"It's just that I, umm... I'm- I'm married! Yeah, that's it! I'm totally married! – To my wife!" He held a hand out towards Weiss, who was at Yang's side, wide-eyed and shaking her head vigorously. "My beautiful, _loving_ wife, Weiss!... Right?"

Blake looked back to Weiss, and Jaune couldn't see what kind of expression she was throwing towards her, but Weiss seemed to become even more paler than usual.

"I... I-I've never seen that idiot before in my life," his wife claimed, returning to pretending to be helping Yang.

_Thanks, Weiss…_

When Blake turned back to him, he got goosebumps from her genuinely affectionate smile as she moved towards him, her terrifying scythe still in hand.

"Well," he continued, stepping back to keep some distance. "I mean, uhh… well, we hardly know each other, Blake. And, uhh-"

"Blake is a Neko-Reaper hybrid," she interrupted.

Jaune blinked.

"Uhhhh… what?"

"Jaune is getting to know Blake better. Blake is a hybrid between a Neko and a Reaper. Blake helps guide lost souls to the Otherworld, souls in unrest, souls that foolishly believe they still have purpose in the livings' realm."

Jaune swallowed, forcing out a smile.

"Oh… wow, That's... That's a lot to take in."

"Jaune, it's fine. Be cool," Yang cut in. "If we're _nice_ to Blake," she bounced her brows a couple times suggestively, "Maybe she'll let us, like, use this building to do business here or something."

"Yang, I don't think that's how property works," Jaune countered, already backed into a wall with Blake caressing the hair hanging down by his eyes.

"Who cares? This place looks totally deserted! Blake, how long you been staying here?"

Blake turned back, as if just noticing Yang's existence for the first time.

"Blake has been hiding here a long time."

"Yeah, see?" Yang said. "The owners must've just left it."

"Blake is the owner," she claimed.

Jaune's brows lifted in surprise.

"... You are?"

An ear flicked, and Blake looked to him, wearing her sweet smile again.

"Yes. Blake killed the last owners," she confessed, and Jaune couldn't hide the horror in his eyes as his mouth worked wordlessly. "Blake is kidding," she added. "The building is abandoned. Jaune may use it for his interests."

Somehow, Jaune was not put any more at ease from her hilarious joke.

"Well, that's, uhh, very nice of you, Blake, but, umm… this place isn't really in any presentable condition, and I have a feeling that it would violate literally every health code ever made."

They all looked around at the copious amounts of mysterious sludge covering the walls, floors, and everything in between.

"That is merely the Essence of the Dead," Blake informed, moving a hand over her shoulder to cup some of the black gas emanating naturally from her body. It seemed to somehow thicken in her palm, giving way to gravity and sliding down onto the floor. "It is my own energy, and it is harmless."

Jaune's lips tightened.

"I, ehh… I don't think I'm ready to dismiss something called 'The Essence of the Dead' as harmless…"

Blake watched him for a moment with her fixed, neutral stare before raising her scythe straight up and slamming it down to the ground at the bottom of the handle. In an instant, the room seemed to come to life as all the bits of sludge and grime lifted into the air, sprouting wings and making awful, high-pitched screeches as they flew around frantically in a fit of chaos. Blake repeated the same motion with the scythe, and the bat-like creatures traveled up the stairs together and scurried out of the room, leaving behind a completely immaculate basement and the sound of everyone's screaming.

He was done with this place. _So_ incredibly done.

"Okay!- Well!- Uhh!- Thank you for helping us, Blake!" he blurted out. "We really, truly appreciate it and are forever in your debt, but we really need to be getting back now to help Yang, who is _desperately_ bleeding out on the floor. Nowifyou'lljustexcuseme-"

Jaune mechanically slipped out from between Blake and the wall, and he hurried over to Yang's side.

"Umm, I'm actually fine," she corrected, holding a finger up.

Jaune paused and offered Blake a nervous, sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, see? She's so delirious from the blood loss that she doesn't even realize she's injured!" He urgently pulled a mildly protesting Yang up, using himself as support as Ruby mirrored his actions, helping from the other side. "But, yeah, we'll definitely get back in touch with you to exchange details some time- Another time! A time that isn't right now! So, uhh, thanks again, Blake! We'll talk again soon, okay? Bye!" Weiss rushed ahead of them, desiring just as much to leave.

He didn't even stop to spare another glance. They were out of there, thankfully, unchallenged. Jaune noted on their way out that the rest of the house was also spotlessly clean.

Sure, it _might_ have made a nice place to set up a business... He figured it wasn't in a terrible area... And everything was pretty much already furnished...

No...! No, no, no. Jaune didn't even want to entertain the idea of coming back. When it came to magical creatures, Weiss was just about as much as he could handle, and Blake was about twelve and a half steps beyond that. There was absolutely enough magic in his life.

Finally making it outside felt like getting a hold of a freedom they'd been working all day to achieve. The fresh air was a welcome change from the stuffy inside of that abandoned, old building, and it was starting to become dark out, so it was easier for Jaune to remain unnoticed.

The trip home would probably be long and grueling with this weight, yet well-deserved, and this would be the first night where he could finally get a real good night's rest in a comfortable bed alone. He would make sure not to take it for granted.

As they made their way, Jaune thought about what Emerald had said about some wreckage. There was nothing around him when he woke on the beach, but could it have been remnants of the cruise ship that he had no recollection of? Did something happen to it? That made him even more worried about his family than before…

He shook the unpleasant thought away, and his eyes peered over to the sisters at his side.

He would need to talk to Ruby soon about what happened, though Yang was probably going to need a little first aid before then, he figured as he looked back at the small blood trail they were leaving.

A dark mass in the street behind them caught his eye, or he thought it did, but there was nothing actually there when he focused his gaze.

A tingle crept down his spine.

* * *

_So, I'll be honest, a big reason as to why this chapter took me SOOO long to write was because I kind of didn't like a lot of things about this chapter, but I didn't really know how to make it better. It feels unfocused. It feels like there's too much going on. It feels like I didn't do Blake justice in her introduction... Idk..._

_I didn't want to say that before the actual chapter, because I didn't want to influence your opinion. I want to hear your honest thoughts on the chapter. Things you liked? Things you hated? Wanna call me stupid? I want to hear it!_

_Also, what did you think about the scenes in the beginning? Specifically the scenes that don't really serve to push plot, but are only there for fluff and relationship building like the shower scene. I was debating for a while whether it had a place, or whether I might start making mini-chapters for that kind of thing. Let me know what you think!_

_Thanks again!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello again!_

_Once again, sorry for taking so long. I think it's been like 3-4 months or something since my last update. Unfortunately, I think that might be becoming the regular time frame, as I've been writing other things that haven't seen the light of day, but I will update when I can. This chapter has been done for like 2-3 weeks. I only needed to reread over it, but Ive been super sick so I kind of just said screw it._

_This chapter clocks in at about 20.5k words, the biggest one so far, and it's only part 1 of 2._

* * *

The morning sun's rays peeking through the curtains, poking through his eyelids to nudge him from slumber.

Birds chirping merrily outside, singing from the trees.

A criminally conformable extra king-sized bed in which he could laze all day in if he so pleased.

It was all music to Jaune's ears.

This was definitely the nicest awakening he'd had on this island so far, and after going through a _particularly_ traumatizing day like yesterday it was sorely overdue. The bed whispered his name like no other, urging him to savor the lingering morning just a tad longer, but he knew it was probably time to get moving.

He sat up, flexing an arm above his head and exhaling a deep breath-

"WHOA- SHIT!" he screamed and pulled up his covers as his tired eyes rapidly blinked away the sleepiness to focus on the dark figure in the room. "… Blake…?" She was just standing by the door, idly staring at him and eating a small cup of pudding with a spoon while her scythe leaned in the crook of her arm.

And was she wearing makeup now? He was pretty sure she wasn't yesterday. Winged eyeliner, black lipstick, and purple eye-shadow complimented her black dress perfectly. But why was she here?

Did she follow them home?

Blake swallowed a bite.

"Good morning," she greeted impassively.

"Jesus- What are you doing!?... Is that our pudding?"

"Blake was waiting for Jaune to wake." She took another bite. "… And Blake got hungry."

Jaune's brows met incredulously.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Four hours."

"_Four hours!?_"

"They're coming."

Jaune blinked.

"… Wait, what?"

Still eerily watching, Blake put a hand on the doorknob behind her, pulling it slightly open and drifting out backwards. Jaune scrambled out of bed and ran to follow.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, you can't just say something like that and leave, Blake!" He threw open the door and rushed into the hallway. "Blake!?" But she was completely gone, the black gas from her body lingering in the air and fading into nothing.

"And what _about_ Blake?" Turning his gaze down a few doors to the end of the hall, Weiss stood halfway out of her doorway, wearing a surprisingly normal night gown, and her hair was put up into a neat, icy bun. She raised a critical brow and eyed him up and down. "Was she in your room while you were indecent like this?"

He looked down at himself, remembering that all he was wearing was one of a few kind-of-too-tight lady's briefs that he'd found. They weren't the most comfortable things he'd ever worn, but his choices on an island inhabited solely by women were in short supply.

"No! No!" he assured with peaceful gestures while kind of hiding himself partway behind the doorframe. "… I mean… well, _yes, _but-"

Weiss's door was angrily slammed shut.

Jaune closed his eyes and let slip a defeated sigh as he went back in his room.

* * *

"Aww, _butt cheeks_!"

Jaune held back a laugh.

"Having some trouble there, Ruby?" he asked while cooking some burgers on the stove top for lunch.

"No," she said in between unending sniffles as she continued to chop onions. "I got this… Piece of cake... No problem… Easy peasy-" she wiped her tear-stained cheek on her shoulder and sniffed again, "lemon squeezy."

Jaune may have felt a little bad. He figured he probably should've warned a first-time onion cutter what it was like…

_Buuuut _it was still funny!

"I don't feel sad, so why am I crying?" she whined as she cut with more vigor, taking her frustration out on the onions.

"That's just what they do, Ruby."

She threw the onion and knife down on the counter and started to rub her eyes furiously.

"Argh, it's only making it worse! Stupid things attack the heart _and_ the eyes!"

Jaune didn't bother to hide his incredibly amused grin since she couldn't see.

"Here, let me try something." Moving to one of the fancy cabinets in the kitchen, he opened it, grabbing one of the many scented candles arranged inside for decoration. After that, he took a lighter from a drawer he'd found before and placed the candle next to the cutting board. "An old classmate of mine swore on his life that, if you cut onions next to a lit candle, the irritating chemicals will be drawn to the fire and leave you alone." He flicked life into the flame and lit the candle.

"Thanks, Jaune!" she said, squinting up at him through one watery, red eye.

Though, Jaune wasn't looking at her smile; he couldn't tear his gaze from the bruising just above her left cheek bone, the same bruise left by him last night.

"... No problem, Ruby."

Jaune went back tending to the burgers.

He still needed to talk with her about what happened. He'd already apologized numerous times, probably to the point where it was getting annoying, but it felt like an invisible barrier sat between them. There was still so much he wanted to say, that he _needed _to say, but what other words were there to express his regret?

It was an accident...

He found it difficult to focus on the food in front of him, so he snuck a glance at Ruby.

Unsure if it was a placebo effect, or if the candle method was actually working, he smiled as she was back to happily chopping away, bobbing around, and half-singing, half-mumbling to _Get Low _on Jaune's phone.

"Gettin' low… gettin' low-gettin' low-gettin low, to the _windooooows_, to the walls, hmm hmmm… Till the sweat drops down some balls… Hmm hmm, beaches crawl…"

Jaune silently cursed himself for not having the 'clean' version, especially while hearing her sing the next part of the lyrics, but he'd worry about that later.

He opened his mouth, but... How would he even start this conversation anyway?

_Ruby, you know I care about you, right..._

…

_Hey, Ruby, about last night…_

…

_So, uhh, Ruby, remember when I basically punched you in the face..._

"The onion threat has been defeated!" Ruby cheered and peered over to him, almost catching his lingering eyes as he quickly forced it down to the perfectly cut bunch of onions.

"Oh, uhh- Nice job, Ruby!"

He raised a hand for a celebratory high-five, but he pulled back when Ruby gasped and flinched away. She immediately opened her eyes and stared up at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Ah! I, uhh-! S-Sorry, I- It was, uhh, it was just the onions that were making it hard to see!" She squinted her eyes, blinking rapidly as if the onions were suddenly bothering her again. "See? I love high-fives! Up high, Jaune!" She raised a palm up.

But, Jaune couldn't bring himself to meet her hand in cheer anymore.

"... I'm sorry, Ruby," he said, instead taking her hand in his and giving it a comforting squeeze. Ruby's cheeks seemed to pink a little.

"F-f-for- for what?"

Jaune really, _really _didn't want to have to spell it out...

"Ruby-"

Standing in the doorway to the living room, Weiss loudly cleared her throat, and Jaune took his hand back.

"Yang said she needs your help," Weiss informed Jaune with no less than a little bite in her words.

"I, uhh-" He glanced at Ruby with a frown before looking back. "Can it wait a couple minutes?"

Weiss rolled her glowing eyes.

"I don't care," she said as if it was the dumbest question she'd ever heard as she left the kitchen.

Hanging his head, Jaune sighed and met Ruby's uncertain gaze.

"… Let me just go make sure it's not urgent-"

"Yeah, no, no, it's fine-"

"I just don't want to keep her waiting or anything-"

"Yeah, I understand-"

"Not to mention, she could be hurt or something-"

"For sure, definitely-"

"But I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere-"

"Take your time, take your time…"

"... Thanks, Ruby."

Another awkward moment later, Jaune was heading up the stairs towards Yang's room on the side of the house opposite of his and Weiss's. Walking into Yang's room, he didn't know what to expect, but seeing her lying on her side on the bed, posing seductively for Jaune, was not it.

"Hey there, sugar tits," she said with a wink. "What's a fine place like you doing in a dirty bitch like this?"

Jaune tried to hide a grin as he leaned against the doorframe.

"You've always had a certain way with words, haven't you, Yang?"

"Yeah, well, words _are _my first language."

Jaune let out a small laugh, but then he noticed something.

"Yang, you're bleeding through your bandages!"

Yang propped herself up further to look at the end of her tail where blood was seeping from the poorly dressed wound and onto the bed sheets. She grabbed a fresh towel from the pile on her bed and sat up to be better able to clean up what she could, but Jaune could tell her movement was clumsy and awkward because of the lack of her body's usual appendage to be a counterweight.

"Yeah... that's kinda what I need your help with," she said with a small, embarrassed laugh. "I sure did me a trouble, I did."

"Oh!" Jaune's body started into motion. "Right, of course, no problem." He kneeled at her bedside to get a closer look at the medical work she had done herself... And it was definitely mediocre at best. "Yang," he said, shaking his head. "This isn't going to do any good at all the way it is now... I thought you said you could take care of this?"

She crossed her arms.

"I _did_ take care of it!"

"And that's why you need my help, right?" he asked rhetorically, and Yang's lips tightened. "Honestly, you probably shouldn't even be bandaging it in the first place."

"What? Why not? When people get hurt, you put a band aid on it."

"Well, yeah, normally, but you said it grows back, right?"

Yang raised a brow.

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'm no expert on reptiles, but wouldn't wrapping it up get in the way of it trying to regrow?"

"… It might," she answered quietly, her cheeks pinking a little. "I've never actually lost my tail before…"

That hurt him.

This was the first time she'd been injured like this.

And it was because _he_ brought her somewhere unsafe. Just seeing his friend in this condition was breaking his heart, but, knowing that it was his fault was like a flaming knife trying to pierce his chest.

It didn't matter that her tail would grow back. If it wasn't for him getting them involved in his problems in the first place, this would never have happened.

"I… I'm sorry, Yang," he said, his face falling into gloom. Yang's eyes sharpened as she jammed her clawed finger into Jaune's shoulder, and he pulled away. "Ow! Yang, what the f-"

"Stop it. Stop doing that."

"Geez, sorry. Doing what- Ow!"

"_That_! Quit being so sorry all the time!"

Jaune's sad gaze found the bedsheets .

"... It's not that easy..."

"Bullshit! There's nothing you could've done to change the outcome. If I hadn't been so stubborn and jumped down that hole, maybe things might have been different, but that's not what happened, okay?"

"But I knew it was most likely a trap before we even went. If I'd have just-"

"Listen, Jaune," she cut in. "I don't know about Weissy McIcy Tits, but me and Ruby would've investigated that place even if you pussed out. And that nutty-ass chick was after _me_ the whole time, anyway! We put ourselves in that position, so just be thankful that you were there to help when you were."

Even if what she was saying seemed to make sense, it didn't do much to alleviate this weight on his heart. It was still _his _phone that Emerald had used as bait after all.

There was still that part of him that felt responsible – That part that felt guilty – That part that wanted to make it up to her.

Jaune stood to his feet.

"I'll be right back."

After making sure his hands were squeaky clean, he came back in and sat on the bed. He laid another fresh towel over his lap, and then, to her surprise, lifted the end of Yang's tail, placing it in his lap as well.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping," he said as he carefully began undoing the old bindings.

Despite the bloody, messy, grim nature of what he was doing, it was oddly calming... helping to soothe the guilt he felt. Perhaps he received a sense of fulfillment from looking after his friends- cooking for them, giving them a place to live, tending to their wounds.

Though almost every minute of his last few days on this island had been _actually insane,_ there were moments like this in between the bouts of chaos that were peaceful. He found he enjoyed these moments of serenity with them immensely. Was that weird?

He hoped that wasn't weird.

A contented smile rested itself on his lips.

Surprisingly, Yang hadn't objected or even teased him at all yet, so he glanced up from his work, finding her blazing red cheeks as well as her loitering eyes until she snapped them away.

"It's alright," he assured her. "Don't be embarrassed, Yang. You didn't have anyone to teach you these things."

Head bowed and keeping her eyes locked onto a pillow that suddenly seemed so interesting, she exhaled a nervous laugh.

"That's not what I'm embarrassed about," she said, and Jaune furrowed his brow curiously. "I... I guess I've just never really had anyone take care of me like this before."

He wasn't sure why, but Jaune's own face reddened a bit as well as he forced his gaze back down. It was so very uncharacteristic of Yang to suddenly seem so bashful, that it was even making _him _nervous!

"Well, umm... what else are friends for, right?"

"I could think of a few things..."

And, just as fast as it happened, she was back to normal again. Jaune smirked.

"Shut up..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her smiling at him.

"I love it when you get all frazzled."

"Me?" Jaune asked, playfully narrowing his eyes at her in a side-glance. "Look at how red you are right now!"

"Hmph!" Yang crossed her arms and lifted her chin. "I don't know what you're talking about! I'm totally poised! I'm poised as fuck! Look how poised I am!"

Jaune shook his head as he started pulling off the last layer of bandage from her tail. It peeled off with a thick wetness. He figured he should probably be wearing gloves for something like this, but at least his hands were clean.

"So," he started again, "Your tail just grows back then? Pretty convenient."

"Yup!" she said proudly.

"Kinda like a lizard, huh?"

Any trace of humor dropped from Yang's face.

"Don't you ever fucking call me that again."

"Uhh, right... sorry."

She held her burning glare, crimson red dancing within and ready to consume purple, until they softened again.

"But, yeah… Kinda like a lizard."

Making a mental note to never use that word again, he worked in silence for a bit, wiping the blood-stained scales down and disinfecting the area. It looked like it was already healing up pretty well, especially around the edges where it had almost completely closed the wound already.

Curiously, his hand drew close to and gently brushed her plated scales on the side, making sure not to touch the more skin-toned underside in case it was sensitive like Ruby's. They were dry, warm, and smooth, pretty much like handling a big garden snake, though a bit harder than that. It was nice to the touch.

"You know," he said. "This kind of thing seems really personal... I'm kind of surprised I was the first person you thought of asking."

"Oh, you weren't. Ruby's not good with blood, Weiss said no, and you can go straight to hell if you think I'm asking Blake."

"... Oh..."

He supposed he sounded a little more disappointed than he intended because Yang looked at him somewhat apologetically.

"Hey, come on," she said and placed a scaly hand on Jaune's knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm just messing with you, Jaune... Not a lot of people have gotten to touch my tail without being choked by it."

Jaune snorted.

"Okay, please rephrase that. "

It was Yang's turn to tell him to shut up as she shoved him.

"… But, for real," she continued. "I wouldn't've even asked you if I didn't trust you. You know that."

Jaune finished up the last of the ministrations and tossed the disinfectant-covered towel into a laundry basket across the room, but made no effort to stand.

"Yeah... I guess you're right... I just wish Ruby trusted me."

"She does trust you," she said, and Jaune's lip crooked skeptically at her. "... Probably." Jaune groaned and rolled his eyes, and she lightly swatted his arm. " Kidding again! So don't worry your pretty, little face about it too much."

"I know, but I hurt her, Yang."

She sighed, and the air in the room turned a bit more tense when she eyed him.

"Listen, Jaune. I don't know what you think of my sister, but Ruby's actually pretty tough. She'll wear that black eye proudly. I mean, you saw when I 'yeeted' her off a cliff," she explained, wearing a thoughtful, yet contagious smile. It ran away, however, fading into a sad frown. "The thing is… I've kinda been telling her all her life that Humans are people that shouldn't be trusted. That they were all violent, manipulative, and sometimes sadistic people."

"Why would you tell her something like that?"

"Because I believed it too," she muttered quietly, dragging her ashamed gaze down to the sheets, her fingers twisting in them. Jaune watched her for a moment, a silent request to continue. "Summer was amazing, doing everything just by herself. No village, no one to rely on… Ruby doesn't remember a whole lot of her mom, but we both clearly remember the night that a group of Humans killed her… It was… a really bad night."

Jaune winced.

"I'm… really sorry to hear that…"

Yang nodded absently.

"My point is… I had a reason to be wary of Humans… …But then we met you." Yang finally looked up at him, and she seemed to search his eyes as she chuckled to herself. "I guess it's possible that Ruby never really believed all Humans were bad in the first place, but, if there was any doubt at all, you completely changed her mind… At least, until last night."

Jaune's fists tightened.

"You lost control," Yang continued, pointing out the obvious. "You showed her a side of you she was hoping didn't exist... But, I'm not saying I blame you. I lose my shit too sometimes. And if someone hacked off one of _your_ limbs, they'd be getting _at least _a very stern talking to." She shot him a sly wink.

Jaune tried to smile back, but he couldn't even force out a convincing one, so he just simply hung his head.

"I just wish there was something I could do… I feel terrible about it."

"I think it's sweet." Jaune turned his skeptical gaze back to her, expecting a mocking grin, but instead found a sincere smile. "You're a good guy, Jaune. Give it time. She'll come around… especially if you just keep being you." She affectionately bumped him with her tail, and Jaune placed a hand on it.

"… Thanks, Yang."

"Anytime…" They sat in each other's silence, eyes drifting downcast until Yang's head popped back up with perhaps a little too much excitement. "Oh, hey! Wanna see something super fucking weird?"

Jaune's eyes flicked nervously.

"… Uhhh-"

Yang swung her tail over the side of the bed.

"Yeah, it's gonna be great! You're gonna love- WAH!" She hopped off, promptly falling forwards and belly flopping onto the floor with a grunt.

"Yang!" Jaune slid off the bed and to her side. "You alright?"

Yang pushed herself up, letting out a sheepish laugh and rubbing her head.

"Ahehe… Guess I got so excited I forgot I was a cripple…" Shaking his head, Jaune helped her up back onto the bed, and she pointed across the room to the same desk that filled every bedroom of the mansion. "Grab me that box over there."

He did as requested, picking up the closed box to bring it over.

His lip curled.

"Umm, Yang?" he said slowly as he sat down and placed the box in front of Yang. "It, uhh… Why does it smell kinda-"

"_That_, my two-legged Human friend, is the smell… of science!"

She dramatically yoinked off the lid, tossing it behind, and she held up what she'd been hiding inside.

Jaune recoiled and held a hand under his nose.

"Oh, Jesus, Yang! Is that…_ the rest of your_ _tail_?"

It was definitely her tail. Her day-old, slightly decomposed, paling tail.

He ripped his eyes away from the disturbing sight in her hand, and he looked to Yang, who was wearing a devilish grin.

"Pretty cool, right?" she asked, bobbing her brows, and Jaune returned an incredulous stare.

"No! Why do you have this?"

Yang's enthusiasm did not falter.

"Cause I heard if you pour salt on it, it'll freak out and start dancing or something!"

"What...? What else do you have in there?"

She reached inside, pulling out another item and happily displaying it for Jaune.

"Salt!"

It was a little, fancy salt shaker, likely snatched from the downstairs dining room. With the slightest of morbid curiosity, he watched as she took off the cap and began to dump a generous portion into her scaly hand, grinning like a mad scientist.

"... Uhh, not to rain on the parade, Yang, but-"

"I don't wanna hear about your pride parade," she cut in, waving him off. "Feast your unworthy eyes on this!"

With a graceful wave of her hand, she doused the severed appendage in a shower of sodium and watched as the magic started to happen…

…

..

.

Or not…

Her excitement melted into an adorable pout.

"… Why isn't it working?"

"Well, I was going to say I'm pretty sure it's been too long already to have any kind of reaction to salt," he told her, earning himself a pointed look.

"Hey, don't try to logic me, buddy."

Jaune let out a small laugh as he stood from the bed and started to back out towards the door.

"Alright, well, thank you for this, Yang. Really. Thank you for the show, but I think I'm gonna go head back downstairs and hope that Ruby hasn't burned our lunch yet."

"Oh- Wait! That reminds me!… Come here_, friend_." Her tone was suddenly very calm, and she crooked her finger, beckoning him closer. Suspicious, Jaune sharpened his eyes, but decided to indulge her anyway, slowly approaching until he was at her bedside. "Closer," she whispered with a sweet smile. Jaune eyed her up and down, but leaned in.

Yang leaned in as well, her warm breaths grazing Jaune's cheek as she cupped a hand and put her lips right next to his ear as if to tell a dirty secret that belonged to no one else.

And then, with the other hand, she snuck a devastating punch right into his abdomen.

Jaune was pushed back, but was able to keep a knee under him while he let out a guttural groaning. He looked up to Yang, who was smiling a very satisfied smile.

"_That,_" she started, "was for hitting Ruby last night. No hard feelings though."

"... Right," Jaune coughed out. "No hard feelings..." He rose to his feet and hobbled to the door. "I'm just gonna… go throw up in the bathroom now…"

"Okie doke!" Yang proceeded to lounge back down on the bed, fluffing up pillows and making herself comfortable. "Let me know when lunch is ready!"

Before heading downstairs to continue prepping lunch (not that he had much of an appetite anymore), Jaune dragged himself through and directly across the hallway into the bathroom.

Hunched over and clenching his stomach, he rested his forearm on the counter to take a breather and make sure he wasn't going to vomit. Once he had at least somewhat of a grasp on his gag reflex, he raised his head again.

Blake was in the mirror.

"OH GOD DAMN!" Jaune spun around to see Blake staring with her familiar, expressionless gaze and standing just a little too close. Jaune leaned back, bumping into the counter. "S-Sorry, Blake!... I didn't realize anyone was in here..." Blake neither said nor did anything. Instead, with weapon in hand, she just stood idly watching his awkward fidgeting. "Do you, uhh… Do you always carry your scythe everywhere?"

Again, Blake said nothing. Behind her blindfold, piercing gold eyes found blue, but her gaze flitted away as her lips curled into a shy smile while she turned to open the door.

"Umm..."

Any coherent words slipped his grasp though, and he noticed a blooming flush to Blake's cheeks as she simply exited the room.

_What just happened?_

She acted like an absolutely smitten schoolgirl just now. And was she staying with them now? If not, why was she here?

Jaune guessed he might not like the answer...

While the idea did make him beyond nervous, it didn't seem like Blake was actively trying to hurt him or his friends, and it looked like there was a softer side of her sometimes when she wasn't trying to be terrifying... Or maybe that aura of terror was just natural.

And then there was the question of what Blake said earlier. Just who exactly was coming?

"Hey, guys?" Ruby's voice called loudly from downstairs. "There's a lot of people in really cool clothes surrounding the house outside."

_Uh oh._

Forgetting his pained abdomen immediately, Jaune rushed out and down the stairs. Ruby had the velvety curtains pulled back and was peeping out the window.

"Ruby, what's-"

The glass of the window shattered as a small, cylindrical object crashed through it, landing between them. Ruby quickly withdrew into her shell, but Jaune was only able to take a short step back before he was subjected to the flash grenade's blinding light and deafening explosion.

Jaune was somehow able to stay on his feet, but, even though unable to see or hear, he could feel the grip of several gloved hands pushing and shoving him, wrestling him face-down to the ground and securing his hands behind his back with handcuffs.

His vision and hearing were coming back to him as someone's knee pressed into his back, and there was another somewhat tall girl in a dark, geared-out uniform similar to a SWAT officer standing over him. She had a gun pointed to his face as she liberally threw around orders.

Being the only one without a helmet, Jaune could see she had brown, medium-length hair with one long, lighter-colored strand hanging on the side, and a very thin layer of fur coating the majority of her skin. Somewhat similarly to Blake, shaggy canine ears rested atop her head, draping slightly forward, and, instead of wearing normal officer's boots, her rather large, bare wolf's feet were covered in nothing but dark fur; not that she'd probably be able to even wear any kind of footwear with the way those long, sharp, black claws extended from them, scratching up the hardwood floor.

A pair of expensive looking sunglasses, a bushy wolf's tail swaying between her legs, and a seemingly permanent glare all completed her intimidating and feral appearance.

Jaune looked around, getting a look at the slew of different kinds of Monster girls in uniform chaotically invading and spreading throughout their home with assault rifles and handguns in an unorganized fashion.

His heart rake spiked further. Knowing his friends, he was scared to death that they'd try to put up a fight, even against military-style tactics and weaponry.

Weiss and Yang emerged from their respective hallways simultaneously, both on high alert from all the commotion.

"Monster Girl Police Department!" one of them shouted, pointing her rifle at Weiss who was holding her weapon. "Get on the fucking ground! Now!" To Jaune's immense relief, Weiss dropped her sword and begrudgingly put her hands up, but not without first sparing an indignant scowl.

Even still, she was basically tackled and thrown to the ground, yelling and deriding the police all the while.

Upstairs, Yang was also aggressively slammed down to the ground, but she didn't let that curb her challenging smirk. She peeked over the open balcony through the bars of the safety rail, catching Jaune's worried gaze as the police struggled to secure her into her own cuffs.

"Guess we're not tickling the balls today, huh, Jaune?" she called down. "We're just going right into adventure! Ow-" Yang bared her teeth up at her captors. "Hey, I am a cripple! I demand special treatment!"

Back downstairs, an officer with large, brown and white rabbit ears and rabbit-like feet hopped over to approach the girl that held Jaune at gunpoint.

"The area's secured, Captain Adel. There's no one else in the house, but no sign of the signal's source yet either."

The signal's source? What did that mean? And where exactly was Blake in all this? Apparently, she was getting out no worse for wear.

"Right. Keep looking," the captain responded, receiving a nod.

A scared squeak of Ruby's caught Jaune's ear, and he turned his head. Two officers were yelling at her, pointing their guns into the top hole of the shell in an attempt to coerce her out.

"Come out of the shell now, or we're throwing a flash bang in there!" one of them screamed.

Ruby let out another yelp as one of the officers slammed the butt-end of their rifle against her carapace.

"Ahh! If this is because I took a naughty picture of myself with Jaune's phone, I won't do it again!"

The officer's hand began to reach for something on her utility belt, and Jaune grit his teeth. Either these officers weren't trained properly, or they were vicious, because, if they were going to make good on their threat of tossing a flash grenade in Ruby's shell, she would undoubtedly be horrifically injured.

"Ruby!"

Jaune was able to manage slipping one of his knees under him, using its strength to begin lifting him up despite the person on top of him trying to shove him back down. Captain Adel quickly took notice, taking a step back and ordering him to surrender.

Though, he was unable to act calmly anymore, and he kept rising, somehow finding enough strength within him to shove the other person off.

Hands still bound, he rushed the officers harassing Ruby, but he didn't get very far before the captain stepped in front of him, pistol whipping Jaune in the side of the head.

* * *

A loud slam right next to his ears jolted Jaune awake in his chair.

It was a furry fist that made the noise, clenching ever so tightly on the table Jaune had just been resting his head on. The fist belonged to the only other person in the tiny room, Captain Adel.

Where was he? And why was his head so fuzzy? His blue eyes quickly scanned the room.

A concrete floor, one table, a few wooden chairs, a lamp light shining right into his face, and a single mirror in one of the featureless, gray walls...

An interrogation room.

It smelled like sweat.

Jaune could feel the painful pounding of his pulse through his temples, and it hurt even just trying to remember what had happened. He brought his hand up to try to soothe his pounding head, or he wanted to anyway, but his hands were still cuffed behind him. He glared daggers at the girl who was watching him behind designer sunglasses.

"Where's Ruby? Is she-"

"Shut the fuck up!" The captain smashed her fist back onto the table as she brought her face merely inches away from his, baring her fangs. "I'm asking the questions here, you got that?"

Jaune leaned away from her volatile temper, not giving up too much space as he didn't want to have his question go ignored, but also not wanting to answer hers.

Luckily, he wouldn't have to answer that question, as the captain's focus was pulled when the lone door to the room opened and that Rabbit Monster officer from earlier entered, carrying a little tray with a sandwich on it. She had shed her gear already. In fact, they both had, instead now wearing more professional clothing suited for an office job, though, the captain's attire was still impeccably fashionable.

The newest girl set the tray down in front of Jaune with an awkward smile and sat in the chair opposite him, thankfully getting the captain to sit as well.

Jaune eyed the piece of food suspiciously. It looked like a simple ham and cheese on wheat.

"Eat it," the captain said impatiently, leaning forward.

The other girl held a hand in front of the captain's shoulder.

"Now, now, Coco. Did you even introduce yourself yet?" Captain Adel kept holding her pointed look at Jaune before letting out a frustrated breath as she sat back again, crossing her arms. Flipping her ears out of the way, the Rabbit Monster looked at Jaune. "I'm Lieutenant Velvet Scarlatina, and this is Captain Coco Adel."

Jaune didn't care, neither for their names, or their stupid good cop-bad cop routine.

"Where's Ruby? Where are my friends?"

Coco abruptly stood up, lurching forward again to grab Jaune by the shirt.

"I don't give a damn about your hostages! What I want to know is why exactly a dirty Human is on _my_ island kidnapping innocent girls!"

_Hostages? Kidnapping?_

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Jaune felt his feet leaving the ground just before being slammed down on his back onto the table.

"Don't play dumb, shithead!" she screamed in his face again. "We get a tip for abnormal activity at your house, and what do we find? A Human trafficker, two girls with black eyes, and another girl whose tail's literally been dismembered!"

"I told you already, th-"

"Not to mention, we found the girl's actual, rottingtail in a box for safekeeping! You're one _sick_ fuck..."

"She put it in there herself! And one of the girls is literally my wife!"

Coco glowered down at him like he was the stupidest person she'd ever seen.

"Oh, really? Which one, the Elf? And how'd that marriage happen?"

"I-… Uhh…" Remembering that story, Jaune thought it best to just keep quiet about it as it seemed Coco already had an idea. "Listen, they are my friends! They will back me up! Just talk to them!"

"So we've got a case of Stock Market Syndrome then."

Jaune blinked up at her.

"... You… You mean Stock_holm_ Syndrome?"

Canine nostrils flared in rage. She slung him across the table, sending him careening straight off onto the floor. Velvet moved in front of Coco and held her, blocking her from continuing her assault.

"I'm not playing your fucking games, kid!" Coco yelled. "You're going away for a long time!"

Jaune used the wall for support as he staggered to his feet.

"Look, don't I get a lawyer or something? I have rights!"

"Not even in your dreams, shitbag! You're not a citizen here, terrorists have no rights!"

"Coco," Velvet said softly, trying to calm her down.

"Do you know what they're going to do to you in prison!?"

"Coco."

"No, fuck him!"

"_Coco_!"

She then gently pushed Coco towards the corner of the room, murmuring something too quiet for Jaune to make out.

Instantly relaxing, Coco ducked her head with a blush and snaked an arm around Velvet's hip to embrace her tenderly whispering perhaps a bit too loudly for the tiny room they were in.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, babe."

Velvet's shoulders tensed up, and she shot Jaune a quick, embarrassed glance before whispering something inaudible again.

"Don't worry," Coco responded. "Humans are basically deaf, not to mention stupid. There's no way he can hear us."

Jaune rolled his eyes and slumped down in his chair.

Apparently convinced, Velvet spoke slightly loud enough for Jaune to hear.

"... Are you sure?"

"Of course. The kid's a total moron."

Velvet seemed to relax a bit as well, her own little, fluffy bunny tail fluttering as she let her hands rest against Coco's upper chest in the embrace.

"Alright, well, is it my turn to be the bad cop?"

Like a lover tiptoeing around her answer, Coco's gaze drifted away.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, you never let me be the bad cop," Velvet whined, puffing out her bottom lip, and Coco snuggled her a bit closer.

"How about I let you be the bad cop tonight?" A furious blush overtook Velvet (and Jaune) as Coco continued, bobbing her brows, "We can even go buy those fuzzyhandcuffs you've been wanting to try on me."

Jaune had overheard enough.

He cleared his throat obnoxiously, earning Coco's unimpressed glare from over her shades.

"If we're going to be here all day," Coco started, leading Velvet out in hand. "You should make yourself comfortable."

They left and closed the door behind them, likely leaving Jaune to plague his own mind in silent solitude with the fears of what might be coming soon.

He sighed.

"Jaune."

Jaune nearly jumped out of his fucking skin as he looked to his left to find Blake casually sitting right beside him, her expression as plain and unreadable as ever, and yet still able to easily make quick work of Jaune's composure.

"What the fucking-... How do you keep doing that?" he asked, trying to keep his voice down.

Blake's ears perked up with curiosity.

"Doing what?"

A conceding breath escaped him.

"… Never mind. Listen, have you seen the others? Is Ruby okay?"

It was subtle, but Jaune didn't miss how her expression soured.

"... She's fine. She came out of her shell when Jaune was hurt."

"Wait... you were there?"

"Of course," she assured, reaching a hand out to show Jaune's cheek affection. "Blake would never leave Jaune behind."

"Right," he said stiffly. "... Of course."

"Blake has a plan to free Jaune."

"... You do?"

"Yes." Blake took back her hand and stood up to face the door with a look of determination. She gripped her scythe tightly. "Blake will kill them, and Jaune will 'make a break for it,' as they say."

Every kind of alarm possible went off in Jaune's head.

"What!? No, no, no! You can't just kill them!" he whisper-shouted.

She turned back to him inquisitively.

"Why? It would be easy."

"Are you insane? Murder is not something to be considered so casually!"

"But they hurt Jaune."

"Yes, but that doesn't make them bad people, Blake. You can't just go around killing whoever you want."

"Why not?"

"_Why not...?"_ he parroted incredulously."What, are you the Terminator? You just can't, Blake. What happened to that compassion you had for Emerald? Where'd that go?"

Blake's ears wilted at the question.

"That... That was different. Blake did not want Emerald's soul to haunt her home..." Her frown faded, and her smile reappeared as if recalling a fond memory. "But then... Jaune invited Blake into _his _home."

Jaune's head pulled a small retreat.

"What? No I didn't."

"Yes. Jaune was giving 'the bedroom eyes,' as they say."

"I-I... did no such thing!"

The door opened, and the two police Monsters walked in with cups in hand, filling the room with the heavenly aroma of hazelnut coffee.

However, the scent went unnoticed to Jaune, as he was frozen in place, his gaze darting in a panic between a still expressionless Blake and the police. Coco eyed Jaune suspiciously from behind her shades.

"You know we can hear you talking to yourself out there, right?"

Jaune's mouth worked wordlessly, and he shot Blake a baffled side-glance.

"They cannot see or hear Blake right now," Blake said.

"Don't think you can get off easy by pleading insanity, shit head," Coco said as she sat down with Velvet. "I know exactly what you're trying to-"

"Coco, please," Velvet cut in. "Jaune, walk us through this. How and why are you on this island?"

Though he was trying to keep his eyes directly off of Blake as he began to talk, his focus did not completely stray away from her as she slowly made her way behind the unsuspecting women.

"Oh, uhh… Right… walk you through it," he parroted absently. Like a baseball player up next at bat, Blake lifted her scythe, leveling the aim of her blade right where the women's heads met their bodies. She was going to do it… She was _actually _going to murder them all for his sake. "Well, umm, you see… it's kind of complicated."

Jaune emphatically and almost imperceptibly shook his head in an attempt to dissuade the overzealous Neko Reaper. It went ignored, however.

"Well," Velvet said. "Can you start from the beginning?"

Blake sharpened her eyes and started to wind up a swing.

"NOOO!" he screamed, finding himself standing suddenly as Blake froze pre-swing, eyeing Jaune with a confused, tilted head. Coco was also out of her chair with a hand resting ready on her holstered gun, and Velvet sat wide-eyed.

Jaune cleared his throat as he awkwardly reseated himself.

"I mean, uhh... Yes."

They both watched him for a moment, and Coco tossed Velvet a side glance.

"Maybe this guy _is_ a fruit loop," she whispered loudly.

The door opened again, and a very professional looking Monster woman with long, black hair strode in, chin held high with confident purpose. Though, that purpose was unknown to even Coco and Velvet, if their confused faces were of any indication.

"Uhh, mam…?" Velvet said as politely as possible. "I don't think you can be in here."

The woman walked to Jaune's side of the table, opening her coat to briefly flash everyone some kind of badge.

"I assure you I can," she calmly said, taking a proper seat next to Jaune. She briefly studied him with magenta eyes.

Trying to convince himself that the young woman's massive bosom and curvy figure were _not _the first things Jaune noticed about her, he returned his own curious gaze.

A Panda…

She was definitely a Panda Monster.

Sure, the big patches of black that were surrounding her eyes and sharply contrasting her pale skin could've been mistaken for raccoon features or something, but there was no doubt with those black, fuzzy, rounded ears sticking straight up, and the furry, clawed bear paws that replaced Human hands and feet. Uncharacteristic for a panda though, she had a pink streak in her hair.

She was totally adorable.

Jaune gave Blake a subtle, questioning glance, and she merely shrugged.

"I am Supervisory Special Agent Lie Ren of the MiB," the Panda Monster explained as if she'd done so a thousand times. "Approximately fifty-three minutes ago, I was informed that the local Monster Girl P.D. had interfered with an investigation of ours by raiding and subsequently arresting one of our agents- " She waved her hand towards Jaune. "Ms. Jane Artio."

Jaune's brows scrunched so hard he almost hurt himself.

Miss Ren turned to him.

"Isn't that right, Special Agent Artio?"

"Uhh…" He mechanically looked to Coco and Velvet. "… _Yes_…"

"The MiB..." Velvet mumbled while thinking to herself. "I've never heard of that organization before. What is it?"

"That's classified," Miss Ren answered.

"Wait, wait, wait," Coco said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "So you're telling me… that this fucking guy… is not actually a fucking guy…"

"Not even a Human. Special Agent Artio is merely a Doppelganger Monster that has simply taken on the _appearance_ of a Human male, for the sake of her objective of course."

When Miss Ren didn't continue, Coco leaned in.

"… Which is…?"

"Classified."

Coco scoffed, eyeing Jaune. "Tch, well if _she _really is a Doppelganger, then she shouldn't have a problem reverting back to her normal form to prove it, right?"

"Not possible," Miss Ren quickly countered. "She cannot reveal her true appearance because, as I'm sure you ladies know, a Doppelganger will not be able to duplicate a given form unless she comes into direct physical contact with the target again- Something that would be quite difficult for us."

"Why?" Velvet asked.

"Also classified."

Coco threw her hands up in frustration and slapped them back down on the table.

"Oh, _come on! _Do you really expect us to believe this bullshit!?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not," Miss Ren said, her calm, concise words combating Coco's hostile attitude quite well. "You have no authority to keep her or myself here any longer. I am only giving you an explanation out of courtesy." She rose out of her chair, straightening her coat and giving a nod to Jaune to stand as well. "Now then, I'm sure a swift exit is in our immediate future once my agent is out of those cuffs, lest I have a word with your supervisor about this momentous error."

Jaune traded awkward looks between the three when a seething Coco didn't stand to uncuff him, but, thankfully, Velvet did.

He rubbed his reddened, yet liberated wrists, and Miss Ren opened the door. Jaune tried to follow, but a sudden grip on his forearm kept him in place. He turned, seeing Coco holding him.

"If you're _actually _a Monster like us, then you don't have a Human's terrible sense of hearing. So then tell me, what were me and Velvet whispering about earlier? There's no doubt you would've heard us."

"You don't have to answer that," he heard Miss Ren say.

But, it was completely beyond his power to hold back the absolutely shit-eating grin that tugged at his lips.

"Well…" he drawled. "I didn't want to embarrass you or anything, but I bet a fuzzy pair of handcuffs would look _great_ on you."

He felt the grip on his arm weaken, and Coco was stunned beyond words as Velvet hid her mortified face in her hands.

Miss Ren didn't hide her slightly confused smirk either.

"I'm sure that if Ms. Artio keeps whatever little secret _that_ was, then we could skip any tedious paperwork, right?"

Velvet nodded emphatically behind her fingers, her ears bobbing up and down. A grin still stuck to his face, Jaune left the room with Miss Ren (and Blake) in tow.

It would take a little bit of waiting in the lobby, but all his friends were eventually released to finally meet up with him. Yang, rolling up in an oversized wheelchair, smirked devilishly and looked to the nearest officer while pointing at Jaune.

"Hey, don't fall for whatever this guy here says, he's bad news. Like, he for sure kicks kitties."

The police woman gasped at him with affronted disgust.

Jaune rolled his eyes as he, with Ruby's assistance, helped Yang up.

"_Not_ the time, Yang."

The air and radiant daylight outside were a very welcomed change to the gloom of the inside of a jail. As refreshing as it was, there were a lot of questions about this young woman who had basically saved him for whatever reason. Ruby was curious as well as she seemed to look to him as if to ask just what was going on. Not that Jaune really had much of a clue himself as to who she was… Or why they were all following her through the parking lot… Or where they were even headed…

"I swear, Jaune," Yang whispered, eyeing up their new companion. "Every time we leave you unsupervised for even a minute, you come back with another girlfriend."

Ignoring her playful jab, his gaze also rested upon the woman.

He noticed Miss Ren repeatedly looking back towards the station with a subtle nervousness, and a bead of sweat dripping down her temple - A crack in her cool facade.

"Uhh, Miss Ren?" Jaune asked, earning a glance.

"I'll explain things later," she said quickly. "Right now we need to hurry. It's only a matter of time before they figure out that my badge is from a children's toy store, and that the MiB is actually-"

"HEY!"

They all stopped and looked back to see Coco shouting at them all the way from atop the police station front steps.

"The MiB is actually from that dumbass movie, _Men in Black_! Get your asses back here!"

Miss Ren grabbed Jaune's shoulder.

"Run."

Jaune's eyes blew up as he watched Miss Ren take off.

"What...!?"

Thinking quickly, Weiss conjured up a spell to lay down a path of ice on the pavement in front of them. Shoving Yang along the icy bed allowed them to speedily slide over to Miss Ren, who was hurrying into the driver's side of an SUV.

"Get in!" she called, but before they were all able to pile themselves in, a bullet shot from Coco's gun cracked through the day, and their ride leaned to one side as a back tire deflated. "Get out!"

If he wasn't was too busy being scared for his and his friends' lives, Jaune would've been impressed with Coco's marksman aim.

He hopped out to help Yang, but the Wolf girl was running on all fours and would be on them far too soon.

"Go," Blake commanded, putting herself in between Jaune and the incoming Coco. "Blake will hold her off!"

Jaune wavered with uncertainty, and he found himself a little nervous about what she might've been planning to do…

She glanced back at him.

"Blake will not kill her…"

Jaune smiled.

"… Thank you, Blake."

With the flick of an ear and an apparent blush, Blake turned to face him entirely.

"Blake loves Jaune too," she said and dramatically threw herself at Jaune to kiss him with everything she had. Her lips were pleasantly soft, and he was doing all he could to not completely melt into them at a time like this. Her kiss was aggressive, greedy, and her sharp fangs nipped and pulled at his own bottom lip.

Jaune was loudly pushed back up against the SUV, right next to Ruby, who was getting Yang out.

Ruby gasped.

"They're connecting at the lips!" she whispered.

Weiss came around the side of the vehicle.

"He said '_thank _you_,' _not 'I_ love _you_,'_" she growled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Blake broke the kiss. Panting slightly with lipstick smeared, she gave another longing look before turning and charging towards Coco.

Nonplussed, Jaune finally snapped out of it when Weiss slapped him and tugged on his hand.

"Come on, you idiot!"

Miss Ren led them onto the sidewalk and down the busy street, cars honking at them. Of course, their group attracted all manner of pedestrian eyes, and those eyes inevitably fell on him specifically. Faces of surprise, fear, disgust, loathing- all aimed at the sight of a Human. An outlier.

He knew it was silly, but why did those looks send boiling shame flowing through his blood?

He shook his head, forcing himself to instead focus on their safety, but, even as he kept his face down, leaving an icy trail wasn't exactly subtle.

"In here!" Miss Ren called, leading them down an alleyway up to the tall fence of a junkyard. "We can hide in here."

Jaune looked over the fence that may as well have been a mountain.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna get in? We can't climb it, Yang's too-" He paused, chancing a cautious glance to Yang, who was already glaring at him. "-hurt… She's hurt."

Weiss scoffed and wasted no time using her magic to obliterate an opening into the fence, and Jaune cringed... A huge hole was _also_ not very subtle...

Regardless, they went in.

As one could expect a junkyard to be, story-high piles of junk, heaps of scrap metal, and plenty of old, forlorn cars were scattered throughout the lot.

Making their way through the maze of garbage, a Wolf's howl was heard nearby along with the metal crinkling of someone following through the fence, undoubtedly Coco…

But, if she was already here, then what did that mean for Blake? She must've easily been dealt with. Blake was so god damn scary sometimes that Jaune hadn't even considered the chance that she might lose the encounter.

They hurried along, climbing over and lying down to hide behind the other side of a particularly tall hill of metals and scraps.

"Blake is sorry," he heard Blake's tired, sorrowful voice right behind him, and he jumped again. Her eyes were downcast, and she was looking quite a bit worse for wear with disheveled hair, claw marks in her dress, and even a small drop of blood dripping from one of her sad ears. "Without killing the Wolf girl, Blake was unable to stop her and has failed… Blake understands if Jaune never wants to see her again…"

Jaune's lips tugged into a soft frown, and something compelled him to rest a hand on her arm.

"What? Blake, don't say that. Of course I still want to see you."

He froze.

Did he really just say that? To _Blake_ of all people? The same girl that had him quivering in fear just under her touch? The same girl that thought it would be okay to murder a couple police officers? The same girl that literally perspires _death?_

But she had been looking so distraught just then…! And she only tried to help! It just didn't sit well with Jaune, he couldn't help but to say something to cheer her up.

Though, now she was looking a little too happy at his words…

_Way _too happy.

Jaune quickly redirected his full attention the other way back to Weiss, but, in his hasty repositioning, he managed to rest his hand on something metal, accidentally clicking some button and bringing to life a cheery, yet disturbing voice under him that sounded like it was coming over an old, beat up radio speaker, clouded with static.

"_Pennybot activating."_

They all looked down, realizing that among the pile of scraps and garbage beneath them was a rundown robot girl… thing… And Jaune had a hand lying directly on its 'stomach' where some kind of control module was open and exposed.

Its eyes fluttered open.

"_Analysis report: primary systems critically damaged – primary battery critically damaged - backup solar cells damaged and operating at minimal efficiency – battery remaining: eighteen percent,"_

As it continued spitting out a tangent of random technical jargon, Weiss reached over to cover its mouth.

"Shut this thing up, you dolt, or Coco will find us again!"

"Uhh-" His panicked focus dropped down to the smorgasbord of switches and knobs. His hands floundered around, mashing on every button he could find like his little sisters did when he played fighting games with them.

…

It didn't help.

"_Options select – Language changed to Spanish – Te gustarìa guardar tus- Options have been reverted - WARNING: experimental RPG simulation reactivated. Integration commencing in three, two, one-"_

The robot's whole body began to shake violently as a blinding green light burst out from its eyes, and Jaune was assaulted with the weirdest feeling he'd ever experienced, like his entire existence was being sucked into the robot. He resisted, holding back with all his might as he watched his friends be pulled into and subsequently engulfed by the robot. In the end, though, it was too strong.

* * *

He was falling…

Why was he falling?

Squinting through the cold, loud wind rushing passed his ears, he could barely make out the sight of the fast-approaching, green land of grass under him before gravity slammed him into it.

It wasn't long after rolling himself over onto his back that he saw Yang raining down from the heavens just as he had… falling directly on top of him.

But it didn't hurt that much.

In fact, there was no pain at all. He actually felt pretty good.

_Really _good.

… That might've been a bad sign.

Maybe he was dead? Perhaps his spine was severed? Could all of his bones have disintegrated into dust upon Yang's impact with him?

Not that he thought she was fat or anything!

"Oh my god!" Yang hastily climbed off of him to lean at his side. "Jaune, are you okay!?"

Jaune sat up slowly, curling his fingers and toes to make sure they were still responsive. They were.

"I think I'm okay," he said as he stood, confirming that his bones were still intact. "Actually… I've never felt better." On a whim, he bent down to scoop his arms under a still-sitting Yang, and, to her surprise, he effortlessly lifted her up into a bridal carry, which served to tint her cheeks with a little pink. "Light as a feather," he mumbled incredulously.

Marveling at his sudden onset of herculean strength, they hadn't even noticed the rest of their group approaching them.

"Whoa~!" Ruby called. "How are you doing that?"

Jaune huffed an unbelieving laugh.

"I don't know!"

"Uhh," Yang started, clearing her throat and pointing at the top of his head. "Maybe it has something to do with your new 'do'?"

Jaune's brow quirked.

"My what?"

"Your hair."

"… What about it?"

Yang's lips were tight, holding back a laugh.

"_Well…_ it's, uhh, kinda looking a _little_-"

"Absurd," Weiss pitched in, using her magic to summon a small sheet of perfectly flat ice. Yang grabbed the sheet and held it up in front of Jaune to use as a mirror.

His head pulled a startled retreat.

"What the hell?" His hair was massive in size. Arches of giant, spiky, blonde hair erupted from his head and hung down like an incredibly exaggerated anime shonen protagonist. Now that he thought of it, his hair did feel heavier than usual. "Okay, _what_ and _how_?"

"I don't know," Yang said, smiling at his new 'do'. "But my curiosity is definitely _aroused_." She reached up to wrap her fingers around one of the dangling spikes. It was surprisingly hard. Yang seemed to think so as well as she began to… sort of… stroke the stiff rod of hair suggestively with a grin.

"Yang, stop," Jaune deadpanned.

"Oh, yeah. You like that, don't you?"

He shook her hand out of his face, and Weiss let out an exasperated sigh.

"Can we stop talking about your ridiculous hair and move on to something more concerning like where in the world we are?"

"That would be appropriate, given our unusual circumstances," Miss Ren said. "We seem to be out of danger of the police thanks to that robot, though whatever it did to us was very unpleasant."

"No," Jaune said as he took a step towards Miss Ren. "Before we talk about anything else, I want to know what's going on with you first. Who are you? Why did you help us? And why were the police after me?"

"Those are fair questions," she answered, nodding to herself. "The authorities traced a radio signal to your home. I assume it was your phone, as most Humans have one. When they found you, they suspected only ill will, as Humans have been known to cause trouble on Monster Girl Island from time to time.

"As I said before, my name is Lie Ren," she continued. "Though I do not belong to any kind of special organization like I told the police. I just owed a favor to an old friend, who seemed to be insistent on your continued safety."

"What…? Who?"

"I'm sorry, she made me promise to keep her identity secret, but I've no doubt her intentions are good."

Jaune frowned. Why in the world would anyone else be interested in him? It's not like he had any other friends on the island. Why did his circumstances have to be so confusing?

Thinking to himself, his absent gaze happened to notice Yang's searching stare. He looked to her as if to ask, 'what?'

"Sorry… It's just cute when you get all serious," she said as her smile bloomed.

Jaune's mouth worked futilely. Yang's words grew sincere on occasion, and those words came with their own ability to mentally disarm Jaune.

Cheeks flushed, he moved his focus to his surroundings, which were fascinating when he really noticed them. It was a marvelous, yet unsettling sight.

They all stood in an empty, featureless plain of grass that stretched for a vast amount of miles before reaching a mountain range. Except, that same exact mountain seemed to be around them entirely as if someone had somehow projected the same image over and over again somehow.

It didn't look real… It looked... two-dimensional?

Luckily, a very real village was within walking distance, and they decided to start the short trip, Jaune easily carrying Yang the entire way while she wiped Blake's smudged lipstick from his face.

Not so luckily, the village looked to be abandoned, though there were no signs of any kind of struggle. Many things seemed to be right where they belonged, but there were just no people to be found. Adding to the creep factor, the entire town looked like it was straight out of an old western, cowboy movie.

Jaune supposed he'd seen weirder things in the past few days, but the hairs on his neck still wouldn't stay down.

After separating into smaller groups, knocking on several doors, and even checking out a few public buildings in an attempt to find literally anyone, he and Ruby walked into one with a sign on the outside that read, 'Big-Nose Bertha's Steakhouse'. It was a simple, western sit-down restaurant, and they were surprised to see there was actually a lone Cow Monster woman standing behind the bar idly staring forward absently.

This must've been 'Big-Nose Bertha', which was a little disappointing because her nose was only mildly bigger than the average sniffer.

Jaune nudged Ruby and nodded towards the woman, a silent request for her to do the talking, Monster to Monster.

"Uhh, hi," Ruby said awkwardly as they approached.

The Monster mechanically peered to them and grinned.

"Hello!" she called out jovially, apparently unfazed by the Human in front of her. "Welcome to Big-Nose Bertha's! How can I help you brave adventurers today?"

Jaune and Ruby snuck each other a glance before Ruby continued.

"Could you tell us where we are, please?"

"You are at Big-Nose Bertha's," she answered simply, her smile unchanging. "What else can I help you with today?"

"N-No, I mean, like, what city are we in?"

"You are at Big-Nose Bertha's in West City. What else can I help you with today?"

Ruby turned to Jaune, her face laden with worry.

"Monster Girl Island doesn't have a West City."

That worry infected Jaune immediately, though, he made sure to not let himself panic. He wouldn't be surprised if this woman was a little off her rocker hanging out in an abandoned town.

"… Maybe we should just get some lunch here, and then try to get some more info later?" Jaune suggested, and Ruby nodded. It wasn't like they were in any kind of hurry, and their original lunch plans _did _get blown to hell. They turned back to Bertha, who was still staring at them, eagerly, yet eerily waiting for a reply.

"Table for six, please," Jaune said.

"Sorry," Bertha replied. "But we're completely booked right now! Make sure to drop by and check again soon though! What else can I help you with today?"

The pair looked back blankly at all the open tables, chairs, booths, and the complete lack of any customers whatsoever.

"Jaune," Blake said from suddenly being in the entrance's doorway, making his heart jump.

"Hello!" Bertha called to her. "Welcome to Big-Nose Bertha's! How can I help you brave adventurers today?"

Blake only gave her a moment's glance.

"Weiss found a local as well, but something is amiss. These people have no Life essence."

An uncomfortable chill darted through Jaune's body, and a theory hit him, one that could maybe explain what was happening, but...

No... it was far too ludicrous!

Jaune regarded the creepy woman again with a forced smile.

"We'll be leaving now… Thanks for your help."

"Be safe, adventurers!"

They exited and followed Blake as she floated a little ways down the street into another building. Yang was sitting by the front door on what looked like it used to be an old, wooden chair. It was broken now. She gave a sheepish wave. Weiss was busy rubbing her temples in frustration as she talked to a Peacock woman, and Miss Ren watched on, hiding an amused smile behind a fist.

"For the last time, _NO_! I am merely looking for _information_! Any information at all, and we will be on our way!"

With a big, goofy grin, the woman replied, "Ah, yes! We have plenty of wares to choose from for you brave adventurers!"

Weiss let out a deep growl and shoved the Peacock up against the wall.

"Listen to me, you flamboyantly-tailed knuckle dragger! I am about two seconds away from shoving my sword-"

"Weiss!" Jaune called, getting her attention. "I don't think anyone's home." He nodded towards the woman, and Weiss looked at her again, finding that same, unchanging, hollow smile despite the obvious threat of physical harm.

Clearly disturbed, Weiss slowly let go and backed away, and the woman returned to where she had been standing before.

"What else can I help you with today?"

They all just looked at her blankly, unsure how to answer or if it would even do any good.

This person... wasn't actually a person... Much like that Cow woman, she seemed more like a robot.

It was surreal…

But not as surreal as a moment later when a giant, orange-haired girl emerged from the store's backroom and used a huge hammer to calmly bludgeon the Peacock lady from behind, killing her instantly.

They all jumped back, and Ruby started screaming.

As tall as this new girl was, which was quite a bit taller than Jaune, her toned muscles were equally impressive all the way down to her calves that transformed into hooves. She looked like the final boss of a medieval fantasy game, wearing her pink, metal shoulder pads with incredibly detailed dragons embedded into the designs, white and black chest piece with way too big of a heart-shaped hole over the cleavage, and pink battle-skirt with a black trim.

A large pair of white angel wings rested on her back, though they were looking a little rugged like they might've been missing a few feathers. Sticking out from under the backside of her skirt was a long, thick, dark tail wagging around with a pink bow tied to it. It appeared reptilian like Yang's, except much smoother and without scales. Her green eyes were unique in that there wasn't much of a pupil, but multiple dark rings that expanded out from the center, very similar to the rings of a tree trunk.

Nothing about her seemed to suggest a specific type of animal that she might represent. She was just a big girl with hooves, wings, a tail, weird eyes, and lots of badass armor.

As Ruby was screaming, the giant leaned in, staring at her as if completely and utterly baffled by her mere existence. Jaune clamped a hand over Ruby's mouth, which only served to mildly stifle the sound.

"Incredible," Weiss murmured, wide-eyed and gawking. "It's... It's a-"

"Valkyrie…" Blake growled under her breath, and Jaune saw the way Blake's own tail was bristled in agitation. "They're supposed to have been extinct for a hundred years now."

"Hey, _you _stink, pal!" the Valkyrie shot, putting Blake even more on edge. "And I'm not a... val-keer-ree, or whatever you said. I'm a… a, uhh…" Lost for words, she looked behind her, pulling back the hem of her skirt to get a closer look at something before turning back with an accomplished grin. She jabbed a thumb into her chest. "I'm a Nora!"

Jaune's brows creased.

"Did… Did you just check your underwear for your name?"

"Well, _duh_!" she drawled, rolling her eyes at the apparently stupid question as she bent down to casually dig her hands through the dead woman's pockets. "Where do you put _your_ name for when you forget it?"

"… I, uhh… I don't? Also, what are you doing?"

"Well you're just full of the smarty pantsy questions, huh?" She pulled out some coins and stuffed them into her own pockets. "I'm making money!"

"But you just murdered that lady!" Ruby said, stepping forward.

At that, Nora just blew up into unbridled laughter, much to Ruby's annoyance. Only when she was finally done wiping away her tears she looked at Ruby. "Don't worry, she'll be back after a while! They always come back."

"But that's crazy! People don't just come back!"

"HEY, don't call me crazy!" Nora shouted, her laughter replaced with wild eyes as she moved towards Ruby to grab her by the shoulders. Ruby sank into herself while everyone else adopted a defensive stance, ready to step in. "I'm telling you, none of these people are real, kid! Nothing is _reeeeeeaaal!"_

With a look of terror, Ruby's voice squeaked.

"Jaune, I'm scared."

"You should be," Nora whispered intensely. "You should be…"

"It's okay, Ruby," Jaune said as he slowly pulled her back by the shell, putting himself in front of her. "I think she's actually harmless…"

"_Harmless_!?" Nora wailed, now focused on Jaune. "I'll have you know I'm level ninety-seven, bub! What level are _you_ people!?" She paused, her anger dissolving over a fraction of a moment. "Wait a second…" Her gaze drifted across their group one by one before she turned back to Jaune with wide eyes. She poked him in the chest as if suddenly realizing she'd never seen another person before. "Are you… Are you _people_-people…?"

Jaune eyed the finger.

"… Uhh, last I checked, we were pretty people-ly people…"

Nora's face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning, and she screamed in excitement as she ran to the backroom she originally came out of, bumping one of her wings into the doorway.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my _god_! It's happening!" Jaune could hear as he shared a glance with his group. Nora came running back out, her hooves stomping into the ground that had so many of the same imprints already. She chucked a duffle bag onto the floor and started digging through it. "There was something in here, I'm pretty sure! Something I needed for this exact moment! Stay calm, Nora! **Stay calm**!" she kept saying while tossing out all kinds of things that couldn't possibly have all fit in the bag.

Food, clothes, uncapped canteens of water, old fruit, a wedge of cheese, various pieces of more armor, and an entire statue of a knight with a plaque at the bottom that read, 'To the Hero of South City, Nora Valkyrie'.

"Aha!"

Apparently, she had found what she was looking for- A crumpled up piece of paper…

She unraveled it, accidentally dropping it and batting it around as she tried to catch it. Finally, with a firm grip, she held it up to Jaune's face.

"Say the words I wrote down, please," she said, suddenly trying to keep her voice calm.

Jaune narrowed his eyes at the words on the page that made minimal sense to him. Nora's hands were shaking.

"Why?"

"JUST-!" she blurted, almost stomping a hole through the floorboards, but she was able to reign in her emotions. "Just… please…"

What was with that look she was giving him? Her eyes kept darting away, as if scared they would accidentally reveal their true purpose.

Jaune was nervous.

_Why_ was he nervous? It was just a little, dumb written text on a torn, aged piece of paper, looking like it'd even been drooled on at some point. There was nothing to be worried about.

Even still, with shoulders tensed, he peered over to his team for support, all of which were unanimously shaking their head aside from Blake, who was still glaring at Nora.

Jaune looked at the paper again.

"Penny…" he read aloud, and Nora began nodding furiously in encouragement. "... Run command- restart game." Nora gasped and held her breath.

A loud, disembodied girl's voice reached their ears through the open door, the windows, seemingly from everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time.

"Are you sure?" the voice asked.

Nora happily screamed her lungs out.

"YES!"

What happened next Jaune couldn't quite comprehend. It was like the sun abruptly lost all fuel, like all the lightbulbs suddenly went out. It was pitch black.

"What the-!?" Jaune said as the others reacted similarly, aside from Nora, who was cackling loudly. "Everyone get close to me!" They did as told, all huddling together... maybe a little too close. "Ah! Whose hand is that?... Yang, is that you?"

"Whoops," she teased. "That was an accident."

"But your hand's still on my ass…"

"And it's _still _an accident."

The light came back all at once like the sun reignited, and they were again subjected to that familiar sight of being suspended far above a field of grass.

And they were falling once more.

Though, the landing this time was much more unpleasant as they were all tangled together. Yang groaned, unsuccessfully trying to pull herself from the pile.

"Okay, now someone's hand is touching _my _ass."

"Yeah, how do you like it?" Jaune said, rolling out.

"I mean, well, it's kinda nice…"

"Umm," Ruby began to mutter from somewhere underneath her. "I think that's my hand…"

Yang let out a wail of disgust, flailing to break free. The rest of them stood as well, brushing off all the grass.

"Ahh, what the heck!?" Nora cried, looking herself over. "Where'd all my cool armor go!?" It was actually a rather curious thing to see. Her incredibly detailed and elaborate looking armor from before had all vanished, replaced with a simple, modest dress that looked to be from _much_ more old-fashioned times. Was that what she was wearing when she first entered this place? "And where's my bag!?"

"Hey!" Jaune said angrily, catching Nora's attention. "Do you want to tell us what's going on here? Why'd you make me read the words off that paper? Why do we keep falling into this field? Why does my hair look so stupid? And who the hell is Penny!?"

"I am Penny," the cheerful, disembodied voice said, and they all looked around, even Nora who seemed just as confused. "I am the Android that your immersive RPG simulation experience is taking place in, and I am here to guide you along the way."

"RPG? As in… a role-playing game?" Jaune muttered. That would explain his newfound strength.

"Role-play..." Yang mumbled in thought. "Oh, like, a master and slave kinda thing?"

A set of cat ears perked up.

"Master and slave? Blake is intrigued."

"No, no, no," Jaune said, shaking his head vigorously. "It's like a video game."

Ruby gasped excitedly.

"Oh, a video game? I've heard of those! Me and Yang've always wanted to try one!"

"Ehh, this isn't a normal kind of video game, Ruby." He turned his focus up to Penny, wherever she was. He didn't really know where to look when he talked to her. "Penny, how do we get out of here?"

"All you need to do is give the command to exit the game."

"Oh... Okay... Penny, run command- exit game."

There was a beat of silence.

"I'm sorry," Penny said. "There seems to be some software instability. Did you check to make sure the system is plugged in?"

Jaune facepalmed. "Penny, you _are_ the system..."

Another beat of silence.

"So I am! In that case, I am attempting to contact technical support..."

Blake rested a hand on Jaune's arm.

"Those that made the Androids stopped long ago. There will be no support."

"Hmm," Penny continued. "There was an error in processing the request. Would you like to make a report?"

"Yeah," Yang said into the sky. "You can report to your dumbass creator that they can suck my-"

"_No,_ thank you, Penny," Jaune cut in. "Just... tell us how else we can get out of here, please."

"Well, someone from outside the game could eject you out, but my physical body is in no condition to do so, as none of my limbs are currently operable. Other than that, the only other way to exit is to complete the game by defeating the final boss, but you must be careful! If all of you fall in battle, you will be stuck here indefinitely!… I will now open the readme file that contains more information about this… … … My apologies, there seems to be much data corruption in the readme file…"

Jaune sighed. He couldn't say that was unexpected. If Penny was as old as the evidence was suggesting, of course there would be data corruption. Electronic information just simply didn't survive that long.

"Nora," Jaune said. "How long have you been in this place?"

She crooked her mouth and scratched her head in contemplation.

"I don't know… Probably at least a few hours."

"What…? Are you sure it's not like… a _hundred years_?"

"Hmm, maybe!" she answered with an oblivious smile. "I don't really remember."

"Well, do you remember anything?"

"Sometimes."

Jaune merely stared with a dumbfounded look as Weiss thought to try her hand.

"Nora, you said you were level ninety-seven before," she said, trying to maintain her patience. "You must be able to tell us _something _about this place…"

"Well, I remember the final boss is a parasite that infects you and takes over your-"

"_Warning!" _Penny announced loudly. "_A threat is approaching! Prepare yourselves for battle!"_

"What!?" Jaune looked at his team. Sure, Weiss and Blake had their usual weapons, and Yang _was _a weapon, but what about the rest of them?

The impending threat was upon them before they even realized it, slamming down from the skies with a thundering roar and kicking up a blinding cloud of dust. Its landing coincided with the startup of loud, epic orchestral music playing from everywhere like Penny's voice, seemingly for the sole purpose of making the encounter more dramatic.

Once the dust was clear they got a good luck at the enormous, three-headed beastly hound with chains around its necks, cracks of glowing red goo seeping from its hardened, black skin, and molten spit drooling from its three mouths. It let out a terrible bellow again.

"You don't think he just wants tummy rubs, right?" Ruby yelled over the music.

"Nora! What do we do!?" Jaune called.

"Reach behind you and think of a weapon!" she told him as she did exactly that, putting her hand behind her back as if she was actually grabbing for something. Before Jaune's very eyes, a mace began to materialize at the handle in her grip. Though, it wasn't the same expertly crafted hammer from before; this one looked rather cheap comparatively.

Nora took off for the monster.

"_Hammer Blow!_" she screamed, pummeling it with a series of slow strikes.

The rest of them that were without weapons did as instructed.

Jaune pulled out a shield and ridiculously large sword that he was somehow able to wield with one hand, Ruby took hold of what looked like an old flintlock pistol, Miss Ren had a wooden bo staff, and Yang just had a pair of beaten up brass knuckles.

Yang let out an affronted puff.

"Okay, seriously, what the fuck!"

"Hey, Juan!" Nora called out while riding precariously on top of the chains of the thrashing Cerberus like a bull. "Hold your palm out facing upwards in front of you!"

"It's _Jaune_!" he corrected as he did so, somehow projecting an interactive holographic screen above his hand. "And thanks!"

The display showed him a _Mission Objective_, _Battle Log, Inventory,_ and a plethora of information about him and his entire group. He could see their amounts of _Current_ _HP_, _Max_ _HP_, _Energy_, and even their class names.

_Jaune – Guardian_

_Nora – Warrior_

_Ruby – Gunslinger_

_Weiss – Battle Mage_

_Blake – Black Mage_

_Yang – Berserker_

_Lie – Pacifist_

Jaune raised a brow at that last one before he noticed a small, red icon next to Yang's name. He poked it, which brought up text that read, _'Injury – All stats reduced by 50%'_, which must've referred to her missing tail, but there was another purple icon next to Weiss's name. _'Withdrawals – Max HP and Energy reduced by 10%'_. What in the world was that about?

He was barely able to glimpse the next column, titled _Current Mood_, before he was sent flying with a fortuitous side-swipe of the beast's barbed tail, landing next to Miss Ren.

"I'm sorry," she said with a frown as Jaune allowed her to help him up. "I wish I could be of more use than morale since you all being here is essentially my fault, but my bo staff seems to be only for aesthetic purposes, as I am no fighter."

"Pah!" Nora laughed while taking a swing and miss at the beast. "We don't need morale! Just look at the menu for your basic abilities! This first boss is as easy as ca-" She took a heavy hit from the giant dog, launching her up into a tree.

Jaune pulled up the status menu. He was down a small bit of health while Nora was missing about half from just that one hit. He looked to his friends rushing into the fight, even Yang who was basically doing the awkward Wyrm-equivalent of limping.

It was time to be a _guardian_, he supposed.

He peeked at his so-called abilities, then charged forwards.

Nora had taken a brutal wallop, but Jaune wasn't about to let her go down in the first fight.

Running passed the boss while deflecting some fire breath with his shield (which he was completely impressed that he could do), he baseball-slid to gracefully catch the Valkyrie when she fell from the tree branch.

"You alright?" he asked as he laid her down.

"Yeah," she said sheepishly with a grimace. "I guess I forgot what it's like to be level one again."

"Nora, I saw I had an ability called _Mend Wound_, how do I use it?"

"Oh, that's easy! You just gotta say something really dramatic and think of the ability, but be careful. Any healing spells _really _make the bad guys mad at you!"

Jaune turned to his team.

"Ruby!" he called, just barely overpowering the music and catching her focus. "Cover me while I heal Nora!"

Ruby gave a determined nod and fired again, flinching at her own shot before covering her ears.

"Geez! Why's it so loud? Is there a volume knob on this thing?"

Jaune focused back on Nora.

"_I've got you_," he said, trying to make it sound dramatic enough. It was, and he was beginning to project into her a fascinating green light from his hands. He looked at his status. His_ Energy_ was going down, but her _Health _was going up.

As he healed her, her ringed eyes watched him with an odd interest, scanning his body. Her tail curiously slid its way up his chest, searching, looking for… something?

"Uhh… Nora…?"

"You don't have any chest nuggets," she concluded, and Jaune's nose crinkled in confusion.

"Any… _what_?"

"Look out!" Ruby shouted.

Jaune instinctively grabbed Nora and leapt away, swiftly dodging a stomp with his new video game powers. She was at about eighty percent _Health_, which had to be good enough for now.

He placed her on her feet.

"Nora, you've fought this thing before, right? What's its weakness?"

"Uhh, fire, I think?"

Jaune nodded and stormed towards the boss, and the music seemed to increase in intensity.

"Weiss, Blake! Do you two have any fire spells?" He took the blow of a strike with his shield aimed for Weiss.

"I can imbue my weapon with fire magic," she said.

"Blake has fire spells, yes!"

"Use them!"

Blake began spinning her scythe around as it glowed red with embers, and Weiss muttered the words necessary under her breath as her weapon burned as well.

Jaune took a few jabs at one of the boss's heads to attract their attention. It worked, and Weiss, using her RPG-endowed agility, leapt high into the air and came down with a lunging, fiery stab while Blake unleashed a hellacious fireball from the side, blasting the boss with heavy impact.

Jaune's face dropped when the fire attacks had little effect. Instead, the magic seemed to be sucked into the beast's body through the cracks in its skin, and sent out a shockwave, blasting Weiss away. Jaune looked to Nora, who had her hand to her chin in contemplation before the realization hit her.

"Oh, you know what?" she called. "I think fire was actually its strength!"

Jaune facepalmed. He was pretty sure they'd just healed the boss. Though, he supposed it was his fault for blindly trusting Nora's memory.

The beast roared and stomped its feet with invigoration. Being the one standing in front of it, it lunged at Jaune in a solo stampede, but he rolled out of the way. It didn't stop there though, circling back around for its attackers, only for Blake to nimbly dodge as well, but Weiss was too preoccupied going through her list of other abilities.

"Weiss, look out!"

It tackled her, pouncing and mauling her with its claws.

"G-Get it- Get it off!"

Jaune ran full speed, ramming it with his shield, but it hardly budged. Mere slashes of his sword and gunshots from Ruby did nothing to stop it. Desperate, he quickly skimmed through the menu again, finding an attack that he was familiar with from his days of playing online RPGs.

"Come on!_ Fight me, you asshole_!" he yelled, hitting his shield as he tried to _Taunt_ the boss, and an aura of red light flowed outwards from him.

Finally, it turned up its leer at him and got off of Weiss, leaving her at a quarter of _Health._

Jaune planted his feet firmly and… Well, he hadn't really thought this far.

"_Eat lead, sucker_!" Ruby yelled dramatically, firing some kind of purple, magical bullet, and she let out a giggle, clearly amused with herself. The shot seemed to home in, making a direct hit into the boss's leg and shrouding the beast briefly in that same purple aura. "I think I lowered its agility!"

Yang hobbled up next, grinning devilishly at the boss.

"Hey, nice fire, _idiot_! You hit like a vegetarian!" she shouted, and it was showered in another colored aura, reducing its defense.

"Oh, oh! Let me try!" Ruby hopped up close. "Hey! Your, uhh... Your feet look like sausage patties!" But nothing happened. Jaune checked the _Battle Log_ to see that her attempt had been resisted.

Ruby crossed her arms with a groan while Yang nudged her.

"We'll work on your insults later."

Blake had been charging up another attack of an arcane element, and she released a flurry of small magical missiles barraging the boss while Weiss shot a large bolt of ice, encasing it halfway frozen. It cried out in pain.

Checking the _Battle Log _again, he noticed a key piece of info.

"Weiss, your ice is super effective! Hit it again!" She did so, hurrying to its other side and repeating the attack, and it was frozen completely solid. "Nora, with me! Smash!"

"You got it!"

They both took a running start from opposite sides of the boss, getting up to full speed before jumping and throwing all their strength into one strike aimed at the heads. Jaune blasted through one with his shield as Nora crashed through another on the other side with her mace, and they both sandwiched the middle head, shattering it into pieces before they slammed into each other and fell together in an exhausted heap.

The boss was finally dead, offering them some well-deserved respite as the music fell off, replaced with a short, victorious fanfare tune.

Looking up at the frozen carcass, Jaune didn't bother holding back a tired laugh… It had actually been kind of exhilarating in a stupid, ridiculous way if he just looked passed the fact that their lives were all endangered.

"Yeah, see?" Nora breathed out heavily. "... Easy peasy."

Jaune sat up and blew one of her wing's feathers out of his mouth.

"Lemon squeezy?"

Nora donned a confused frown.

"What?"

"… Never mind."

Jaune stood and helped Nora up. Everyone seemed to be doing pretty well, except for a weary Weiss, who was sitting in the grass. He jogged over.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"I'm fine," she said feebly, turning away to hide her bloodied face.

"Don't worry, I may not have much left in me, but I can help." He held out his hands to heal her.

"I said I'm fine," she repeated, swatting him away as she staggered to her feet, holding her side. "I just want to be back at the house as soon as possible."

"It'll probably be a while before that happens," Nora offered, and Weiss turned, gritting her teeth.

"Why?"

Nora shrugged.

"Well, I mean, I was here for a long time by myself, but now that you're all here, we could probably be done in like a week!"

Weiss's eyes widened.

"No," she said quietly as she approached the much taller Nora and pointed a finger up at her. "No, no, no, I do not have a _week_ to be wasting in here! We need to get out _now_!" After stomping a foot on the ground, she stormed off in some arbitrary direction.

"But what about the loot?" Nora yelled out.

"Wait, what loot?" Jaune said.

"This loot!" She pulled Jaune's sword out of its sheath and ran over to the frozen boss to push it over on its side. She stabbed into the corpse's stomach, using the blade to cut open a long gash.

"Ah, Jesus, Nora! The hell are you doing?"

She then proceeded to begin casually pulling out random organs, entrails, anything she deemed in her way, and tossing them away while humming the battle theme that had just been playing during their fight.

"That's..." Yang muttered in stunned breath. "That's pretty fuckin' metal."

Nora's eyes lit up.

"Ooo!" she cooed, reaching in further. "Guess it's my lucky day!" She pulled out a pair of plated, blood-stricken gloves, holding them up for all to see. "Warrior gauntlets!" She wasted no time slipping them on, grinning ecstatically even though they made a disturbingly slick sound when they did. Hopping right back into her search, she pulled out a basic, bloodied leather hat and approached Ruby. "This one's for you!" she said, happily slapping it over her head.

Ruby tensed up, and Jaune watched a slow-falling droplet of blood trail down her cheek.

"Uhh... thanks..."

"You earned it, little Rubbie!" she said, smacking Ruby on the shell before turning to Jaune. "It might be a good idea to set up camp to rest and stuff."

Jaune raised a brow at the sun high up directly above them.

"Camp...? Right now?"

"Yep!" she affirmed, reaching behind her to pull out a pile of folded up tents from nowhere. "The sun will go down as soon as we get these babies set up!" She dumped them into Ruby's arms and looked at Jaune. "I'll get a fire going, but you should probably go kiss the grumpy Elf's booboos." She motioned towards Weiss. "We're hitting the town tomorrow."

She was right. Weiss's _Health _was still in bad shape, and her _Current Mood _read: _Troubled_. Jaune only had a little _Energy _left, so it looked like some good old fashioned first aid would have to do the trick. Luckily, there was a convenient first aid kit in their inventory.

After basically dragging Weiss to sit down on an unused log by the fire with him (but not so close to it that it'd be uncomfortable for her), the sun did indeed start to artificially set, and that same familiar, omnipresent voice reached his ears.

"Party Leader Jaune?" Penny asked.

"Uhh… yes?" Jaune said awkwardly while Weiss begrudgingly allowed him to wipe the blue blood from her arms with a cloth. He wondered why Penny was considering him the leader.

"Please allow me to give you a tutorial on how the night phase works."

"Night... phase?"

"Yes. In order for the sun to rise in the morning, the party leader will have to have had a meaningful conversation with each of their companions."

Jaune scrunched his nose at the vague instruction.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means your relationship with a given party member will need to have changed in some capacity, either increasing or decreasing in intensity."

Jaune blinked and swallowed thickly.

Why'd she have to use the word, 'intensity'? That made it sound a little…

"Umm, okay… But why me?"

"Because you are the leader!"

"... Fine... Anything else?"

"The rest of the tutorial is corrupted!" she said cheerfully. "That will be all for now!"

"Alright… Thanks, Penny."

"You are _most _welcome, Party Leader Jaune! Have a good night's rest, and I wish you sweet Human dreams!"

Jaune let out a small puff of a laugh.

"… You too, Penny."

He finished with Weiss's arms and brought another log over to be able to sit facing her. With one hand, he gently raised her downcast chin and began wiping away the blood on her blue lips and face with the other as she kept her glowing eyes from meeting his.

It was impossible to miss the way her body was trembling no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"So," he started softly. "Wanna tell me what's botheringyou?"

"Nothing," she said, instantly scowling up at some tree. "I told you I'm fine."

"Not according to this thing." He pulled up the menu in between them and pointed out her _Current Mood_ before putting it away. "Besides... it's written all over you."

"If you're going to keep pestering me, then I'll go clean myself up in silence."

"Come on, Weiss. You heard Penny. We've gotta become closer... Or I've at least gotta annoy you enough to make you dislike me more."

"Well, you're on your way to completing _one_ of those…"

Jaune sighed.

He continued working in a thoughtful quiet, cleaning a gash above her eye, pulling out clumps of dirt stuck in her frozen locks of hair, and listening to the crackle of the fire. He grabbed a thin bandage from the kit and began to wrap it around a laceration at the top of one of her tall, Elven ears.

"I've just…" Weiss started to say quietly to Jaune's surprise. "It's just that there's been something on my mind since we got here… and it has me a little on edge."

"Yeah… You have seemed a little more irritable than usual today."

Weiss threw an annoyed slap at Jaune's chest as she whined, "No I haven't!" He merely raised a knowing brow at her, and she huffed. "Well… You're not supposed to agree."

He'd probably have laughed if he wasn't busy being so damn concerned about her. He finished bandaging her ear, and her breath caught as he took her hand in hers. She tried to steady her shakiness, but it was no use.

"You may get annoyed easily," Jaune said. "But I don't think you're one to get shaken up like this." That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as she only seemed to grow more reserved, tilting her body ever so slightly away. "… Does the word 'withdrawals' mean anything to you?"

Weiss cringed.

"… No…"

"You're lying."

"And you're annoying!" she shot while taking her hand back.

Jaune wore a sad frown, not spurred on by her words, but by her distance. Weiss's _Health _may have gone up to about three quarters and would probably increase further with sleep, but her _Max Health _and _Energy _was now reduced by fifteen percent, lower now than it had been earlier that day. Her condition was only getting worse.

"Weiss," he said softly, hazarding a chance at moving to sit at her side, shoulder to shoulder. She stared down at the grass. "I know that you didn't ask for this… both being stuck in this place with us, and stuck with me as wife and husband… But, regardless of all that, I _am_ here for you… You're my friend, and I care about you… You can talk to me."

She finally looked to him, her glowing, blue eyes searching his own as if trying to uncover any untruth.

Jaune had thought it before, and he still did. Weiss really did look like a goddess in a mortal's form with the way she radiated an otherworldly beauty.

Striving to shun any possible doubt, Jaune gave a small smile as his palm came around to rest on her opposite shoulder, and she tensed under the gentle touch, her expression breaking.

"What- What is happening? What are you doing to me?"

Jaune frowned.

"I'm... hugging you?"

"You're _what_-ing me?"

"Weiss, have you never been hugged before?"

She was like stone in his embrace, and Jaune began to feel a little awkward himself.

"Should I feel violated?" she asked. "Because I'm definitely feeling pretty violated."

A breathy laugh escaped Jaune, which only earned a pointed look.

"It's just a sign of affection," he said. At that, her shoulders relaxed a little, though her face did pink a fraction.

"Oh... like... a Human thing?" she asked quietly.

"Well, I thought this was an _everybody_ thing... Are you going to hug me back?"

Her face scrunched in suspicion.

"Am I supposed to? That sounds lewd. Our skin is already touching enough."

Maybe hugging was just a little too much for Weiss. Jaune let go, and her tension disappeared. She took a deep breath and spoke slowly, seemingly choosing each word carefully.

"Jaune, I appreciate the sentiments… Really, I do. But my problems are my own, and I will overcome them myself… So do not worry your annoying, little face about it," she said, reaching up to give Jaune's cheek a couple pats. Though, her cold hand lingered for a warm moment before she stood. "… Thank you."

A quick chime sound effect played from the sky, and Penny made her presence known again.

"You have completed an objective, Party Leader Jaune," she said.

Jaune pulled up the menu, seeing a couple green arrows next to Weiss's name pointing upwards in a little animation. He guessed that meant he was successful in strengthening their relationship.

He looked at Weiss, but she was already walking away, leaving Jaune feeling restless. This wouldn't be the end of this conversation, he figured, but she was done talking for now. They may have successfully become closer, but she was still _Troubled._

"Girl problems, huh?" Jaune hadn't even noticed Nora sitting on the other side of the fire now, roasting several salamander-like animals over it on a stick. "Here." With her tail, she picked up a twig with more of the creatures skewered on it, offering it to Jaune. "Wanna help make dinner?"

Where did she even find those?

"Uhh, sure," he said, taking it and eyeing them over. He supposed cooking simulated food might've been the same as real food, but he copied Nora's borderline primitive style of just holding them over the fire anyway.

A simulated world… Simulated food... Such a fascinating concept. This kind of thing could be the end of world hunger, even overpopulation, but instead it was being used for an RPG video game... Absolutely mind boggling.

Such incredible technology, and yet, Ruby and Yang had never even heard of cell phones before. Though, apparently, they had quite literally been raised in a forest, so maybe it wasn't _that_ much of a stretch.

"I've never seen one like you before," Nora said, breaking the comfortable quiet and looking Jaune over. "Your voice is deeper, and you don't have any chest nuggets."

Again with the chest nuggets…

"You keep mentioning that, but I don't know what you mean." he said.

"Oh, these things," she proceeded to lean forward, pulling down the front of her dress, and Jaune looked away, frantically motioning for her to stop.

"Okay- okay! Yes! Thank you! Got it! I understand, Nora!"

Nora slowly sat back down with her head tilted.

"Why is your face getting red? Are you embarrassed that you don't have any chest nuggets? Cause it's nothing to be upset about. The Elf doesn't have them either."

"Go to Hell, you dumb Valkyrie!" Jaune heard Weiss yell from inside her tent that she'd already set up. He'd forgotten how acute a Monster's hearing was, especially the ones with bigger or extra ears.

"No," Jaune said. "I don't have any… 'chest nuggets'. I'm a Human male." He wasn't really sure how foreign of a concept that was to someone like Nora. Who knew how long she'd been isolated from any kind of social contact? "Also," he continued, lowering his voice. "Weiss _does _have them… They're just under her armor and a little on the smaller side, but… they're absolutely fine the way they are." He cautiously looked back to Weiss's tent, half expecting some kind of verbal lashing, but he took a peek at her _Current Mood _just to be sure. He watched it in real time as it ticked over from _Troubled_ to_ Embarrassed._

Damn it… She definitely heard…

"So, a Human, huh?" Nora muttered to herself, ringed eyes absently wandering as she thought. "Those sound familiar."

"Nora?" Jaune said, pulling her from her musings. "Tell me it's none of my business, but how did you get here?"

She shrugged.

"I don't remember."

"Okay… How old are you?"

"Couldn't tell ya."

"Did anyone come with you?"

"No idea."

Jaune sighed.

"Why did you need someone else to restart the game for you?"

Nora's face lit up.

"Oh, oh! I actually know that one! It was because I couldn't!"

"Wait, really? Why?"

"… I don't remember."

Jaune groaned and rolled his eyes.

"But, umm," Nora mumbled, her tail curling around her leg nervously while she chewed on her lip. "I'm really glad you guys are here… It did get kind of lonely sometimes."

Her sudden, softer side caught Jaune off guard, and he even found himself matching her blush.

"Oh… Uhh, yeah… I'm glad we're able to help."

She smiled bashfully.

The chime played again, and Jaune checked Nora's status to find those same green, upward arrows indicating that they'd grown closer.

That had been relatively easy.

Looking at the status page, it was almost impossible to miss Blake's mood towards the bottom- _Jealous._

Jaune snuck a glance behind him, glimpsing a pair of cat ears ducking back into a tent. Smirking fondly, he turned to Nora.

"Excuse me for a bit," he said, handing the stick of meat to her. She took it with her tail and gave a salute.

"No problem, Joanne!"

He was about to correct her again, but if she couldn't remember her own name, that was probably a lost cause. He started making his way over to Blake's tent.

The sun had gone down completely by now as well as the temperature. The crickets were singing, the frogs were croaking, and the occasional hoot of an owl could be heard. Though, he had a suspicion all those sounds were artificial, as he didn't really see much of any kind of wildlife in their open plain. Then again, since this was a simulation, they would probably be considered artificial anyways… or something…

He shook his head. That was headache material… also unimportant at the moment.

He stopped outside the closed entrance of Blake's tent.

"Hey, Blake? Can I come in?"

He heard some rustling around inside before she answered.

"Jaune may always enter Blake's space."

"... Uhh… Okay," he ducked his head to enter and plop down. There wasn't a whole lot of room in the tent, but, apparently, each one came with a couple pillows and blankets.

Blake was sitting idly with legs tucked under herself, hands in her lap and watching him as her tail swayed excitedly.

"Blake is happy Jaune thought to visit her."

Jaune was already nervous.

"Oh… Yeah, you know me… Always making time for everyone," he said, intentionally deflecting. Blake didn't notice. Instead, she blushed and smiled as if it were somehow a compliment. "_Sooo_…" he continued awkwardly, eyes trying to find something of interest in the tent as he cleared his throat. "... Bet you didn't think this was how our night would-"

"Would Jaune like to pet Blake again?" she blurted out like she'd been holding the question in all day.

"Wait, what-"

She crawled to him, forcing herself halfway onto his lap and making herself comfortable enough to lie down looking up at him sweetly. Sometimes she was more like a dog than a cat…

She gently nudged his idle arm with her forehead.

Literally afraid of what would happen should he say no, his hand found its way to the top of her head again to work its magic, albeit more slowly than before. He didn't want a repeat of last time. Blake's eyelids fluttered closed, dousing the glow from her eyes behind her blindfold, and she breathed a content sigh as she nuzzled a little more into him.

They stayed like that for a short while. The dark gas that naturally emanated from her body tickled Jaune's skin. He finally started to relax a little, listening to the low rumbling of her purring and Yang and Nora's indistinct chatter by the fire.

Though, his goal still hadn't been completed, and it wasn't going to be if Blake ended up falling asleep on him. He needed to spur some kind of meaningful conversation.

"Hey, Blake," he said, bringing her back from the brink of sleep with a tired, inquisitive hum. "I don't think I properly thanked you for saving our lives last night."

Her warm, golden eyes peeked open, and she smiled.

"Blake would never let anything happen to Jaune."

"I'm not the only one you saved though," he informed her. "Sure, I was probably the one in the most immediate danger at the moment, but you saved all of us. So… thank you."

She snuggled even closer, wrapping arms around his midsection and burying her face in his shirt to hide her ever-reddening cheeks.

"If it pleases Jaune, Blake will protect his friends as well… Excluding the winged one…"

Jaune frowned.

"You mean Nora?"

Blake's ears flattened backwards, and her tail flicked with agitation at even just the mention of the name.

"Blake will not fight for the Valkyrie."

"Why?"

Blake sighed.

"Blake is too young to have experienced it herself, but there was once a grueling war between the unholy Reapers and the angelic Valkyries. The Reapers were victorious," she explained as she sat up to face him. The gas from her body, or 'essence of death' as she called it before, started to flow to her back, congregating and solidifying into the form of a pair of wings black as night, perfectly contrasting Nora's white wings, albeit quite a bit smaller. She extended her wings and gave them a flap as if stretching them for the first time in a while. "They hated each other," she continued. "A surviving Valkyrie could only feel contempt for Blake… Also, Blake does not like other things with wings."

"Blake," Jaune said with a small laugh. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. She doesn't remember her own name or even the fact that she _is_ a Valkyrie, let alone some bad blood with your ancestors. I'm sure your Reaper side means no more to her than your Neko side."

Blake mulled over his words for a contemplative moment, and her ears deflated again, this time with embarrassment.

"... Jaune is right," she said quietly as she let herself lie back down, her wings disappearing again. "Jaune is always right."

His brows creased, and his fingers unconsciously returned to her ears.

"That's not true..."

"Jaune is very nice and sweet to Blake, even when she is undeserving. He has shown great mercy to Blake for her mistakes when others would have not."

Something about that statement troubled Jaune. He remembered Blake's reaction for having failed to stop Coco earlier that day. Scared, in distress, nearly brought to tears. Remarkably emotional…

Possibly learned fears from failures elsewhere.

"It sounds like things were pretty rough back home… Was that why we found you hiding in that old building?"

"... Blake does not want to talk about home," she said, rolling over on her other side to face away from him. Jaune placed a sympathetic hand on her arm, and she met his with her own. "Blake _is _home."

Jaune felt his cheeks get a little warm. For as much as Blake usually terrified him, he found himself equally adoring of her sometimes.

She was troubled. She said she'd being hiding in that restaurant, but what from? What was she hiding? A painful past shrouded by insecurities? Trauma from abuse? If so, then who by?

He felt a little guilty. He hadn't even thought it possible that this girl who thought so casually of murder would be running from something else, that she could even be afraid of something else.

At first, he had thought her so much different than the others, but was she really?

The chime played again, and Jaune checked the status menu. Three down, three to go, though he didn't know how he felt about treating his relationships with everyone like checklists he needed to work on. It felt unnatural.

It wasn't long before Blake's purring fell off, falling asleep in his lap under his caresses. Yet, he didn't move right away. He stayed a little longer, watching her sleep before carefully moving her onto her pillow. Placing a blanket over her, he climbed out of the tent, being met by the air that was rapidly cooling.

He looked around. Yang was lying down by the fire with a large blanket and pillow, waiting for Nora to finish cooking, which, by the surprisingly pleasing smell of it, was almost done. Miss Ren was standing over by her tent, looking over the status menu, and Ruby was sitting on a log off into the dark a little ways from camp.

A small pit settled uncomfortably in his stomach for some reason.

After a moment of deliberation, he approached the fire. Giving a nod to Nora, he sat down where it was warm next to Yang, who smiled sleepily up at him.

"You finally done petting the pussy?" she asked as she stretched. "I watched your mood while you were in there. A nice, healthy mix of arousal and fear. Sounds like a good time."

"_Yang_," Jaune drawled, rolling his eyes.

"No, I get it," Yang whispered with a wink. "The murder kitty's kinda hot... If she wasn't so god damn crazy, I might be a little smitten for the kitten myself."

"She's not crazy, Yang. Just misunderstood."

Yang quirked a skeptical brow.

"Did you even see what her mood was _while_ you were in there?"

Jaune's frown dissolved into a blank stare.

"... I don't want to know," he muttered while Yang snickered to herself. "Yeah, well, what does _your_ mood say right now?" He checked the menu that indicated her _Current Mood_ as 'playful'.

"Come on, Jaune," she teased, seeing her own mood herself. "_Play_ with me..."

Jaune couldn't suppress a small laugh as Yang tugged at his hand. "Quit it, we need to figure out a way to become closer," he said, immediately cringing at his choice of words.

"Hmm, I've got something in mind…"

Nora abruptly stood, looking at them with an odd expression. "You guys are weird," she announced. "Food's done if y'all want some." With that, she grabbed her plate and made her way to her tent, moving her body in an awkward, yet practiced way to be able to enter without bringing it down with her wings.

There was probably something to be said about being called weird by Nora of all people, though Jaune wasn't sure what.

He got up to make two plates of food, giving one to Yang when he sat back down, earning himself a genuine smile.

"I'm gonna miss you, Jaune," Yang said warmly.

"Jeez, don't say that like you're planning to kill me in my sleep."

"Pfft," she laughed. "Yeah right, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have to wait until you're sleeping."

Jaune took a bite of the somehow-tasty, roasted salamander.

"You sure about that? With these new video game powers, I'm feeling like I can take on the world right now, and you're missing an appendage."

"Hmm, point," she said, finally chomping down. "What I meant was… I'm gonna miss you when you finally go back home, like, to America."

Jaune's smile faded as his thoughts wandered back home.

"… Yeah… Honestly, I don't know what's gonna happen when I get back."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how would I even tell people where I've been? Not that they'd believe me, but I can't imagine Humans knowing about your kind would be good for Monster Girl Island. Also, Weiss is my official wife now I guess, which I don't know how much ground that could ever hold in the states, but it might be a problem when the time comes." His cautious gaze drifted to Blake's tent. "And I have a sneaking suspicion that _someone's_ going to follow me no matter where I am in the world..." Yang didn't respond much to his words, seemingly stuck in her own head with a frown. "... You could come with me."

That woke her up.

"What…?"

"Yeah, you and Ruby... Really, all of you could."

She smirked at him, but lightly shook her head.

"Jaune, you know that couldn't happen. Humanity would flip their collective shits if they knew we existed."

"Would they?" Maybe it was a pipe dream. Maybe it was too easy to just say it could happen, to say to give it a try, to say that Jaune himself adjusted fairly quickly to this strange, new land so why couldn't the rest of the world? But it saddened him dearly to think he'd be parting ways with all of these people sometime in the near future, unlikely to ever hear from them again. "I know it's only been a few days," he said, his food temporarily forgotten. "But I feel really close to you guys."

Yang swallowed her last bite, somehow already finished and having apparently eaten the bones. She laid back down.

"Yeah, I know what you mean… I guess almost dying together a few times might do that to you," she said, bumping him softly with what was left of her tail. "I'll be sad to see you go though… I love you, Jaune." Jaune's surprised gaze fell on her. Those words left her lips so casually, as if she'd said them a hundred times before, and Yang blinked, the realization hitting her as her words caught in her throat. "I-I-I mean… I don't _love you-_love you! It's just that, I mean- You know I care about you and stuff of course, but, like, we all do! You know? It's like that!"

Jaune's lips stretched smugly from corner to corner, which served to redden her face even more. The chime played once more in the air.

Taking that as her cue, Yang quickly flipped over to face the fire, pulling the blanket up high and settling still like stone.

"'Kay, well goodnight!"

Jaune brushed her shoulder as he stood, a small offering of affection in return.

"Love you too, Yang… Goodnight."

He finished up the last of his food, then fixed up a few more plates. After dropping some off at the opening of Weiss's and Blake's tents, he assessed his remaining options. Miss Ren was still in the same spot she'd been, fighting against a yawn and presumably waiting to get their talk over with. Ruby also hadn't moved from her general area away from the camp, but was now inside of her shell.

Jaune approached Miss Ren, but she frowned when he handed over the food.

"Why are you here?" she asked, though more inquisitive than affronted. Jaune blinked, making a small sound of confusion before Miss Ren continued. "Why aren't you speaking with the Terrapin first?"

"I, uhh-" He snuck a look at Ruby's idle shell. "I was... just going to talk to her afterwards."

"You are avoiding her."

"Wh-What? No, no, I-" Even as he said that, he was unable to continue. _Was_ he avoiding her? Stalling? Now that he thought about it, they hadn't really spoken much since their cooking session earlier that morning.

"She is no doubt important to you," Miss Ren told him and nodded towards Ruby. "Talk to her first."

Jaune sighed.

She was right. Probably. That pit in Jaune's stomach was still there, and he knew why now. But, with determination to make things right and more than a little embarrassment, he went to grab another plate of food and marched over to Ruby.

She must have heard him coming because her silver eyes peeked out of her shell, widening briefly before disappearing again.

"Hey, Ruby," he said, crossing his arms for warmth as he sat down next to her.

"… Hey, Jaune."

Her voice was small, and the way it shook was already making him a little nervous. Jaune cleared his throat.

Where had their previous conversation ended? He was in the middle of apologizing, he remembered. He supposed he could pick up where he left off.

His lips parted, but struggled for words as the growing silence threatened to consume his nerves. Pulling the tight collar of his shirt slightly off his neck, his eyes fell to the red and black shell, which seemed to leer up at him with its judgmental stare.

But something caught his focus.

Ruby's shell was trembling a little, just enough to be noticed. But… why? Jaune laid a hand on the smooth back of the carapace.

It was so cold.

Well, of course it was cold. Ruby was coldblooded, so her body had little ways of regulating its temperature. She must've been freezing in there. Even Jaune himself was shivering already from having only been sitting there for just a moment. So why was Ruby not by the fire?

"Ruby, can I see your hand?" he asked, holding his own out in front of the shell's hole.

"Wh-What? Why?"

"Trust me," he said, putting a smile in his voice.

It took a small moment, but her shaky hand did come out, and Jaune took it in his own.

"Ruby! You're freezing cold..."

His expression broke, and he found the swift realization to sting him in the heart in a way that he couldn't have imagined.

Ruby had been avoiding him… They had been avoiding each other.

"No, no! I'm- It's-... I'm fine!"

Jaune may not have known what words to say, but he'd be damned if he was gonna let her freeze out here because of him.

With a breath of resolve, he lifted the entire shell with Ruby inside of it, eliciting a surprised squeak, as well as another when he put her down next to the fire. Taking a pillow and blanket from his own unused tent, he sat down in front of the crackling blaze, putting her in his lap and placing the blanket over the shell without covering the hole. He embraced her, offering as much of his own warmth as possible.

Yang was somehow already passed out, her snoring able to be heard even from the other side of the fire. Eventually, Ruby's trembling stopped, and Jaune smiled to himself.

He didn't have any words for her right now, but maybe he didn't need them. Maybe just being here was enough…

He got his answer in the form of that familiar chime from the sky, which was followed shortly by another. He checked their statuses, and he was surprised to find those approving, green arrows next to both Ruby's and Miss Ren's names.

Jaune's eyes found Miss Ren's, and she gave him an approving nod before heading inside her tent.

Mission accomplished, he supposed.

He may not have understood exactly what was going through Ruby's head, but Jaune was going to prove to her, as well as the rest of them, that he would fulfill his role as their Guardian. He would protect them. He was going to do his job. He was going to do his best to get them home.

Home…

Jaune pulled out his phone and began looking through old pictures, even coming across the ones that emerald had taken. With pressed lips, he deleted them. Eventually, he once again spotted new ones, these most recent photos being from Ruby. It looked like she had a bit of fun learning how to be a selfie model for the camera in the kitchen.

A little too much fun, if he were to judge by the very last picture she took. She had the front of her shirt pulled down a little, showing off a tiny bit of cleavage while wearing a goofy grin. This must've been the 'naughty picture' she referred to earlier. It wasn't much, but it still managed to fill his cheeks with heat.

With a hand absently grazing the shell, he put the pillow on top and laid his head down. Her _Current Mood _was content.

"G'night, Ruby."

"Goodnight, Jaune."

[End of Part 1]

* * *

_I feel like it needs to be said- Sorry to any Coco fans out there. I really didn't know how to write her, so I kind of just made her angry, exaggerated comic relief._

_I'm also interested in hearing peoples' thoughts about Nora and Ren. I definitely had to think for a while about how I wanted to add Miss Ren, but I think she came out well._

_Btw, I'm looking for a piece of artwork to commission for the cover, but I really wouldnt even know where to start looking for someone. Any takers?_

_As always, thanks so much for reading, and please let me know what you think about everything! I really mean it when I say reviews are what keeps me going with this!_

_ily_


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